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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24594826">What's a Sleepover?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/neferlio/pseuds/neferlio'>neferlio</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Everybody is stupid, F/F, Post-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:01:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>34,214</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24594826</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/neferlio/pseuds/neferlio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the final battle against Horde Prime, Catra settles into Brightmoon. There are still many strange concepts in the Rebellion which she doesn't know. Turns out… Adora doesn't either.</p><p>(This is a collection of one shots.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora/Catra (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1248</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. What's a Sleepover?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">

        <li>
          Translation into Deutsch available: 
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24998437">Was ist eine Pyjama-Party?</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/neferlio/pseuds/neferlio">neferlio</a>
        </li>


    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I actually think Catra and Glimmer talked about sleepovers on Horde Prime's ship, but it's funnier (to me) this way.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Home. Glimmer was so glad to be finally back home. The fight against Horde Prime had been taxing, the days after cleaning up more so. Now the Best Friends Squad wanted to take a couple of days off before heading into space, to help other planets fight the Horde and restore magic.</p><p>Which finally brought them back to Brightmoon.</p><p>While Glimmer was glad to be home, she was quite aware that for Catra the move to Brightmoon started an entirely new episode of her life. Maybe the cat girl would one day call the castle "home", too. Right now she only looked incredibly tired when she followed the Queen through the corridors.</p><p>After opening the door to one of the guest bedrooms, Glimmer spoke up. "So, I guess this is your new room. Welcome."</p><p>Catra looked around. There was a vanity, a bathroom, crystals, bell pull, tea nook, more crystals, bed, desk, but… "Why does this smell like Shadow Weaver?"</p><p>"It does not smell like Shadow Weaver", Glimmer huffed in protest at once.</p><p>Adora sniffed the room, then wrinkled her nose. "It actually kinda does?" Figures she had to support Catra in these wild accusations.</p><p>"What does Shadow Weaver smell like", Bow wondered out loud.</p><p>"Daisies", Adora answered.</p><p>"Torture", Catra said at the same time. Both looked at each other in confusion for a moment, before both of them amended: "Maybe a bit of both."</p><p>Bow shrugged when he moved the utensils on the vanity around. "This was the holding cell for her, so maybe…"</p><p>A shriek pierced the air — Catra had fled behind her girlfriend, ears flat to the head and tail in a frizz. Evidently she was scared: "You are putting me into prison?! After everything!"</p><p>Glimmer rolled her eyes: "No, it's just the only empty room."</p><p>"And we thought", Bow added and pulled Catra into a kind of half-hug, which low and behold the girl allowed (while hissing, but still), "if you are anything like Adora, you probably want to have a sleepover anyway the first couple of days."</p><p>Trying to suppress a purr (or maybe another hiss), Catra grumbled: "What's a sleepover?"</p><p>Glimmer rolled her eyes, remembering having had these very same conversations with another ex Horde soldier some time ago. "It just means sleeping in the same room as your friends."</p><p>Catra frowned. "So… just sleeping?"</p><p>As someone who had learned the mechanics of the "sleepover" quite well after she defected, Adora stepped in. "The rebellion is weird that way. They usually sleep alone, and have a special word for sleeping in the same room as other people."</p><p>"That's… not… entirely true…" Bow tried, even though he could not really put his finger onto what was wrong.</p><p>Glimmer could, so she added. "What Bow's saying is not everybody sleeps alone."</p><p>Adora lit up with mirth because she could help. "Right. Netossa and Spinnerella have a lot of sleepovers."</p><p>Bow blinked at her. "That's not completely true either."</p><p>"They're married, Adora. <i>Married</i>!" Glimmer explained slowly, as if her friends were either stupid or children. Or both. Probably both.</p><p>Adora looked at the Queen for a moment, then nodded way too enthusiastically for the subject matter. "Yes, I knew that." It was obvious she was lying.</p><p>Catra did not realize or did not care (or maybe she did and was teasing) because she questioned: "What does 'married' mean?"</p><p>Her girlfriend had a panic struck expression when she deflected. "Glimmer, you can explain words a lot better than me."</p><p>"It just means they promised to spend the rest of their lives together." Glimmer explained with an eye roll. For some moments she wondered if she had explained the same word to the blonde before, but couldn't recall any situation where that was necessary.</p><p>Adora and Catra looked at each other with a bit of confusion, which a moment after warped into understanding and then surprise.</p><p>With a sigh the Queen just ushered them into Catra's new room. She didn't want to explain why it might be necessary to get married, or why some people didn't get married. Or any of the other questions that naturally follow when children were introduced to the concept of marriage.</p><p>When the door closed, Adora and Catra woke up from their stupor. They were alone, and still very surprised.</p><p>After many long moments, Catra quietly questioned. "So… we are married?"</p><p>Adora just shrugged half-heartedly. "I mean… it seems like it?</p><p>"We did promise to spend our lives together." The catgirl affirmed, ears dropping low, which raised when her girlfriend only nodded in confirmation.</p><p>"A long time ago, too. We've been married for at least ten years."</p><p>They just looked at each other, unsure of what to do with this new information. Even if Glimmer had used the word as if it had some big hidden meaning, it seemed just weird to have a single word for a "promise to spend their lives together". But so was it to have a single word for "sleeping with other people in the room".</p><p>Catra turned around surveying her new room, already over it. "Now what?"</p><p>Adora suddenly lit up with a big smile: "I guess it means you don't need to stay in this room, because we can have a lot of sleepovers!"</p><p>The catgirl laughed at that and followed the blonde out of the room. Suddenly Brightmoon had the potential to become a new home to her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. What's privacy?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks so much for that lovely feedback, guys. You really made my day! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was a couple of months after the fight against Horde Prime. The Best Friends Squad had settled into nomad life, moving from planet to planet trying to find allies and restore magic back to the universe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right now they had set up camp on a planet named Earth. The mostly harmless inhabitants of this planet had not seen magic in two thousand years. They were not missing it either, even though they had very prominent and widely believed scriptures about the last person to use magic. It seems they were not aware they could just bring it back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In any case, they had quickly made friends, especially Catra was popular due to there being no catgirls on the planet. Actually they had no other sentient race except for plain old Etherians, which were called "Humans" there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Since their new friends had trouble fetching their leader right away, they had set up camp inside a designated area for such purposes. Supposedly Humans sometimes lived like nomads for fun. Their campground even had a hot spring, which the Best Friends Squad really had to try out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Bow was changing inside their spaceship (which the Humans adorably called a "camper van") when Adora burst into his room: "So I talked to our hosts, and they told me we need to clean up, so -" She stopped when Bow's squeaking registered in her brain. She looked him over, how he stood there hunched over trying to cover his nakedness, and blinked in confusion. "Everything alright?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm changing", Bow stuttered while barely holding it together. He was pretty sure his friend should be able to see this simple fact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. Because we want to bathe in the hot spring. I was wondering -"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm changing right now." Bow interrupted with another try. He really had to keep it together because his body was trying to gesture wildly which was not possible because he was covering himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes, I can see that", Adora confirmed with a nod, clearly not getting what was expected of her here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So does he have the soap", Catra entered the room without knocking or anything. When Bow screamed she looked at him, still bent over. "Everything okay?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's changing", Adora supplied helpfully, smiling at Bow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That… that does not answer my question." Catra supplied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Can I please have some privacy here", Bow screamed at them, now fed up with their antics.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, sure", Adora answered at once, already rummaging through his stuff. "We'll help you search for it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra just looked at her girlfriend for a moment and started searching on the other side of the room, questioning: "So what does it look like?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last friend, Glimmer, entered the room through the already open door. "I heard screaming?" She had a glimpse of Bow quickly jumping into his underwear while the other two girls' backs were turned and her head cocked to the side in pure unadulterated confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sat down on the edge of his bed, hiding his still heated face behind his hands. "I was changing. They are searching for my privacy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glimmer blinked once. Twice. Three times. Then she burst out laughing. "You guys don't know what 'privacy' is?!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think I got it", Adora spoke up, showing them what she found in their friend's wardrobe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's a comb", Glimmer supplied still in laughter, "how have you never heard of privacy?" Adora and Catra stopped searching and turned to Glimmer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Back in the Horde, you didn't change together with -" Bow wrecked his brain for any boy he knew from the Horde. "Kyle?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nooo", Catra wailed at once.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nobody changes with Kyle", Adora confirmed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, back after you left, Rogelio started changing with him rather than the rest of the squad", Catra mumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Rogelio and you guys changed together", Bow questioned in disbelief, "even though he is a guy and you are girls." The girls shrugged in confirmation. "You never felt… ashamed to change in front of him?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why would I", Adora questioned defensively and crossed her arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, why would she", Catra repeated and mimicked her girlfriend's defensive stance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glimmer's laughter had just petered out, so she could contribute to the conversation: "Because he looks different naked. Because he is a boy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So does Catra." Adora supplied (which in itself should have made Catra blush, but did not).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She instead nodded: "Lonnie's pretty different, too, because she has these huge -"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No", Bow bellowed and raised his hands to please stop wherever this sentence was going. Adora and Catra just looked at him blankly. "People have private parts." He showed on his own body, where these were. Which made him blush yet again because he was still only wearing underwear. "We don't show these to other people."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two ex Horde soldiers just continued staring blankly, the question written clearly on their faces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow did not want to answer that question. He was not even sure he knew how to, so he tried a different approach: "Please respect that I don't want you to see my private parts."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both nodded at once and Adora voiced out loud: "Yes, sure. Sorry."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That goes for me, too." Glimmer was such a coward to jump the bandwagon like this. "Just knock before entering our rooms."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Again, the two other girls nodded. At least they were trying their best.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Now, please let me change. I'll bring the soap when I'm done." Bow said, and the girls left.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After closing the door, they had a short moment where they just processed the new information. The Rebellion was so weird.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then they moved towards their rooms and finally the hot spring. On the way Adora needed just one little detail to make sense of the situation: "Before entering their rooms we are supposed to knock out </span>
  <em>
    <span>who</span>
  </em>
  <span>?"</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Where do Babies Come From?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sorry this one is not funny. But maybe I'll make another one? I kind of feel like having Glimmer explain that Adora and Catra have not been married since they were five.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It had been a couple of years since the fight against Horde Prime. The Best Friends Squad had helped many planets fight the tyranny of the Horde, and many interplanetary alliances had formed. Still, the four of them periodically returned to Brightmoon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The last time they had been there, Spinnerella and Netossa suddenly had a baby with them at all times, and when they visited this time the little girl was old enough to play with.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer was especially fond of playing with the child, and she and Bow discussed at length what would happen to their mission when they decided to start a family. Not for the first time, either; Adora and Catra had listened to the other couple talking about family planning a lot the last year, especially since Netella was born. (That was not her name, but Catra couldn't seem to remember the real name.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So this evening after giving the toddler back to the rightful parents, the four of them had dinner with king Micah, when Catra spoke up: "Where did Netella come from?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Stop calling her that", Glimmer reprimanded at once, "you can't just mash her parents' names together like that because you refuse to learn her name."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bow thought for a moment, then grinned. "On the other hand, 'Glow' would be a very sweet name for our child." He waved his fork around the dining room. "Fits with the whole Brightmoon theme, too."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Micah, the only one inclined to answer, coughed slightly before he addressed the catgirl. "You know that Netossa and Spinnerella brought her over, right?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah sure", Catra nodded at him, "that's why I call her 'Netella'. But where did she come from… originally? Like last year -" She mimicked an explosion with her hands. "— poof! A baby was there. Why?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Micah stared at the girl in front of him for multiple long moments, then looked over to his daughter and her boyfriend (who were caught between scandalous panic and immense glee) when he questioned: "You want to know where babies come from?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra nodded and shrugged, pretending it was not a big deal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other three looked at Adora, who refused to make eye contact with anybody and quietly ate her food. So there was a good chance she didn't know either, and they had decided Catra would be the one to ask for clarification.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Since nobody talked, the catgirl started again, just to drive away the incredible awkward silence that had settled in the room. "I mean, you two —" She pointed at Glimmer and Bow. "- are talking about starting a family all the time. How would you do that?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You are", Micah practically sparkled when turning towards his daughter, "that's amazing!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer just kept her eyes trained on Catra. "You don't know where babies come from?" Catra half-shrugged half-nodded. "Like, if two adults love each other very much…?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Then?" The catgirl questioned, clearly curious (which Adora would have made a joke about if she was not so preoccupied with her food and pretending to not listen).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bow sighed. "The love they feel… I mean that's the greatest magic of all, right? So it merges and creates a life. Which grows for 9 months, as the parents' love grows… and then a baby pops out."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Out of where?" Catra questioned again. "Where does the baby live these nine months?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"That's different", Glimmer answered and moved her head side to side to formulate an answer, "for some couples it grows inside one of the parents."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before there is another question, Bow added. "But not everybody. My brothers and I were grown on a cabbage patch. Sometimes more than one baby at once." Micah seemed surprised at that, so the younger man added. "You don't get to 13 children one kid at a time."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra glanced at Adora, who raised her head to give her a small smile and an addendum. "A cabbage is a round vegetable. You hate it very much."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I hate every vegetable." Catra said with a nod, then questioned. "But is it…?" Since Adora just shrugged, she addressed the other people at the table again. "So who gets a cabbage and who gets a baby inside them?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While she pointed at the other couple, Glimmer answered. "For us I would probably carry the baby." Catra pointed to Micah. "Mom carried me." She pointed in the direction of the door. "For Spinnerella and Netossa, Netossa carried the baby this time." After a moment's worth of hesitation, she pointed at herself and Adora. "Either of you might be able to carry the child."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Since she looked not entirely satisfied with this row of questioning, Bow amended. "Or you could get a cabbage patch kid. It's not always clean-cut. It's magic!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two ex Horde soldiers shared a long gaze. Not loving, just very, very confused.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"So, it's always a female to carry the baby." Adora finally voiced out loud.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It's magic!" Bow squeaked, then coughed. "Like I'm pretty sure Hordak carried his and Entrapta's baby." He shrugged a moment after and smiled awkwardly. "Although Entrapta might have just built little Emily 2.0."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What is it you two actually want to know", Glimmer asked after another long moment of awkward silence.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both women quickly averted their gazes, staring at their food.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Could we ask you in private", Catra questioned while fighting her blush.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Of course, they could. So after they finished eating the four of them wandered the halls to… get to Catra's room? Bow and Glimmer had no idea she even used the room, since the catgirl had always seemed to sleep with her girlfriend pretty much from day one on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So they entered her room, which looked pretty abandoned. Catra quickly crawled under the bed (that was made, which was another clear sign she had never slept here) and pulled out a potted plant.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"A plant will never grow under your bed", Glimmer lectured without thinking all too much.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra put the round plant on the nightstand, then turned on the light. Bow's and Glimmer's heart stopped beating at the same time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The plant's hull was translucent, and now that there was a light on top of it, they could see something squirming inside. The shadow of the creature inside looked suspiciously like a kitten.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When their senses returned Bow and Glimmer kneeled next to the potted plant and stared at it in marvelled wonder. It took them an embarrassingly long time to connect the dots.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Why did Catra have this plant? Why was there a kitten inside? Why all these questions about where babies came from?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You are going to be parents", Glimmer stuttered out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora laughed really fake. "Catra is. Clearly that's a cat. I'm not a cat. So…"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra elbowed her in the side. "Take responsibility for your doing. Glimmer said it needs two parents." She looked helplessly at the Queen. "Right?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer nodded slowly, still in marvel by the life that presented to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"When did this happen", Bow questioned, while carefully caressing the cabbage. It felt… weird. Almost fleshy. And he knew some parents would attack anybody who dared touching their plant baby, but Adora and Catra really trusted him. Or they were still very much in shock.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"When we were here last time." Adora answered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah, I fell over that… that pot one morning." Catra added with a nod. "So we thought we would put it here, so it would not bother anybody else. But evidently a plant grew while we were gone."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer stood up so quickly Catra hid behind her girlfriend. "You hid your baby? What if it was born while we were away?! It might have died all alone!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra and Adora looked at her in utter shock, then at the squirming kitten inside the plant. "We didn't know it was a child!" Adora defended their actions.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We would never…" Catra started and trailed off, too transfixed by their child.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bow was still caressing the cabbage when he said half-jokingly: "So now we need to get you two married so you won't have your kid out-of-wedlock."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra just laughed at that and pulled Adora closer to herself. "Don't worry about that. We've been married for a long time." Adora separated herself to kneel next to the child, putting her hand next to Bows. Catra frowned at her. "What?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We are going to be parents", Adora answered, and a multitude of emotions flashed over her face. They could clearly see joyous anticipation, but almost as clear was the fear their child would have two Shadow Weavers as mothers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra let herself fall on her girlfriends back and rubbed her cheeks together. "Don't worry, we'll be better mothers than she ever was." She turned to Glimmer. "Hey Sparkles, how long do you think it will take till o-" She choked on the word, and when she spoke, it started to dawn that this was reality, that they really were having a child. "— till our child is born?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Let's call a midwife over tomorrow, so they can help assess the situation." Glimmer decided.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bow nodded, still caressing the plant with a teary Adora. "And then we'll go baby shopping. Diapers, pacifiers, clothes, a bed, some furniture, …" He trailed off, because he thought the expectant mothers next to him were going to cry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They tried to reel it in, and finally Adora confirmed: "Okay, let's do this."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra spoke afterwards: "One question though: what's a midwife?"</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. What is Marriage?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>You requested it, so let's see how you like it! :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the day after they had found out Catra and Adora would be having a kitten. The two of them plus their child had received a visitor in the form of an elderly midwife. Bow and Glimmer were waiting in front of the room their friends were in.</p>
<p>"Funny how Adora thought a 'midwife' would be a person both expecting parents had to marry", Bow said, leaning against the wall next to the door.</p>
<p>Glimmer was walking circles like a caged tiger, but nodded. "It kinda makes sense, doesn't it?"</p>
<p>"Speaking of 'marry' -" He started, and she stopped to give him a look, because she was clearly not impressed how he had forced the subject. "Did you realize that Catra said she and Adora were already married?"</p>
<p>With a shrug Glimmer started walking again. "I have. And she's said that a lot over the years. Both of them actually."</p>
<p>"Don't you think it's time to correct them?"</p>
<p>Glimmer stopped again and thought for a moment, then answered: "Can we rule out that they  are married?"</p>
<p>"Pretty much, yes. What is the most time the four of us have spent apart? We've been separated for not even an hour today and you're already going stir-crazy." </p>
<p>"I'm not -", Glimmer began, but decided to let actions speak, so she leaned against the wall opposite Bow and pretended nothing was wrong. "I'm just worried for the child. It's been all alone for our entire last mission."</p>
<p>"It's a magic baby, it'll be fine." Since she didn't look too convinced, Bow added: "The baby's parents are She-Ra and Catra, both of which are very hard to kill. As we know from first hand experience. Because both of them were our enemies at first."</p>
<p>Glimmer just sighed, then she grinned: "So how and when are you going to tell them they are not really married?"</p>
<p>There was no answer, because the door opened and Adora ushered the two of them into the room</p>
<p>"So, is the baby okay", Glimmer was first to speak, even before she took in the scene before her. Catra was sitting on the bed, the midwife stood next to a desk with his equipment strewn over it, and Adora stood next to the door holding the potted cabbage baby that now sported a little bow at the top. Neither of the expecting parents looked particularly worried in any way.</p>
<p>"She's fine", the midwife said with a mild smile, "babies are a lot more resilient than they get credit for - even before they are born." </p>
<p>"It's a girl", Bow physically sparkled in absolute glee, clapping his hands together in front of his face.</p>
<p>The elderly man started to put his equipment away when he answered: "I've never seen two women have a boy. Or two men have a girl. Magic or not, there seems to be a clear-cut rule there."</p>
<p>"So, how long will it take for her to be born", Glimmer questioned again, and this time Adora answered.</p>
<p>"It's hard to say. If Catra is a magicat -"</p>
<p>"And that is a pretty big if", Catra interrupted, "since there are no magicats on Etheria anymore."</p>
<p>Adora nodded to that. "But if she were a magicat, a pregnancy would last 32 weeks. For Etherians it's 40 weeks, and nobody knows for First Ones."</p>
<p>"But the assumption is that First Ones had longer life expectancies than Etherians", the midwife spoke up again, "so their pregnancies were probably longer as well."</p>
<p>"So we don't know", Adora recapped with a very forced smile - it was clear that for someone who loved plans as much as she did, having a surprise baby with a surprise timing was torture.</p>
<p>"But she's about 28 weeks old", Catra said, obviously better coping with the situation, "because 28 weeks ago she assaulted my foot." Her canines glistened when she proudly added: "That's my daughter!"</p>
<p>The midwife had just finished packing his stuff, and said his goodbye after checking if anybody needed anything. They did not. </p>
<p>"So worst case scenario we have four weeks to get everything ready", Glimmer calculated after closing the door behind the older man, and that woke Bow up.</p>
<p>He had been in a blissful stupor for almost the entire discussion, but now he strutted over to sit next to Catra on the bed, grabbed her shoulders and said: "That's not enough time to get you two married."</p>
<p>She tried to shrug him off and actually hissed at him (which she had not done in a couple of years): "Didn't we tell you multiple times we are already married?"</p>
<p>Bow nodded to this and earnestly said: "But you don't know what the word 'marriage' means."</p>
<p>"We do", Adora interrupted while she put the plant baby on the nightstand and sat down on the other side of Catra.</p>
<p>"So what does it mean", Glimmer spoke up and got herself a pillow to sit in front of her friends.</p>
<p>"It's a promise to spend our lives together", Adora answered with a self-assured nod.</p>
<p>Bow's head swayed a couple of times up and down before he said: "So you probably count that promise you made when you were five. But see, marriage has a legal part, too."</p>
<p>"And traditions and rights and obligations", Catra added while nodding along with him.</p>
<p>"We know. We are not dumb", Adora added, and got a cheeky grin of her girlfriend (wife?) for it.</p>
<p>"Adora, you are dumb", Catra objected and had the cheek to not follow it up by "but I love you anyways".</p>
<p>"I was not the one that got kidnapped and brainwashed on Horde Prime's ship", the blonde countered in earnest, and the other couple sucked air through their teeths, because was that not a bit much? Maybe the stress was getting to them?</p>
<p>Catra did not think so, she just rolled her eyes and pushed her girlfriend off of the bed (in a feline-like fashion while making eye contact the whole time). She turned to Bow with a smile as if nothing had happened, and said sweetly: "We might be dumb, but we do know what marriage is."</p>
<p>Adora struggled to climb back on the bed and moved head-first into Catra's hand, which she used to prevent her from getting back on. "Yes, Scorpia told us."</p>
<p>Bow and Glimmer shared a surprised expression. The other couple talked to people? Which were not them? And these other people explained words and meanings to them? What was going on?</p>
<p>"So, your marriage is registered in Brightmoon and you have your legal documents somewhere around and could show them to us", Bow questioned yet again, clearly skeptical that another ex Horde member - Scorpia - would explain the concept correctly.</p>
<p>When the two women shared a confused gaze Glimmer added: "You have to, else you're engaged at best."</p>
<p>Adora and Catra looked at each other, and the catgirl even stopped preventing her girlfriend from getting on the bed, so they could whisper something to each other.</p>
<p>"No, we reject your version of marriage", Catra spoke up loudly.</p>
<p>"And we substitute our own", Adora added, "or better yet, the Fright Zone's one."</p>
<p>The other two just stared at them for some long moments, until Bow spoke up: "What is the Fright Zone's version of marriage?"</p>
<p>"Well, Hordak forbade all kinds of relationships in the Horde, because he didn't want his soldiers to be weak and distracted", Adora explained, "but evidently the Horde soldiers started creating their own brand of 'marriage', with their own secret traditions."</p>
<p>"Basically, you need to jump over a broom together and scratch your names or likenesses into the metal walls somewhere", Catra  said with a mischievous grin.</p>
<p>"We had scratched our faces above our bed when we were kids", Adora bonked their heads together playfully, "so we only really needed to do the broom part. And then we were married."</p>
<p>"So during this entire war between the Horde and the Rebellion", Glimmer spoke up slowly, word for word, "we fought against your <em> wife </em>?"</p>
<p>Adora frowned. "No, we jumped the broom after the war."</p>
<p>"So you got married without us? And without even telling us", Bow iterated with a lot of hurt in his voice. He even moved away from Catra, even though he had already gone 15 minutes without hugging anybody. They all knew there was a hard cap at the 20 minutes mark where Bow would just tackle-hug the first person that crossed his path. </p>
<p>"Well, we had mistakenly told you a couple of times that we already were married", Adora said, "and you never really reacted to it, so we figured it was not a big deal."</p>
<p>Glimmer let her head drop into her hands in thinly veiled frustration. "We just figured you didn't know what the word meant and let it slide."</p>
<p>
  <span>"But that can't be okay", Bow asked her, "they need to get real-married! A real wedding with flowers and frills and cake and a big party and -"</span>
</p>
<p>"The United Kingdoms", Adora recited at once, "mandates that every kingdom has to recognize all marriages contracted by all other kingdoms." She smiled proudly at the other two. "The Fright Zone is a Kingdom, and Scorpia never abolished the tradition, to not hurt the reformed Horde soldiers."</p>
<p>Glimmer nodded at Bow slowly: "I guess she's right. They are really married."</p>
<p>Suddenly Catra jumped up, pumping her fist into the air. "So today is the first time <em> you two </em> didn't know something, and <em> we </em> explained it to you!" Bow looked extremely dejected, and even though the smile stayed on her face, her ears dropped in sympathy.</p>
<p>"Maybe we could celebrate your wedding anniversary really big", Glimmer suggested, "to make up for us missing the real wedding?" The other two slowly nodded to that, and it seemed to comfort the only man to some degree. "So, when were you married?"</p>
<p>"In spring", Adora said at once.</p>
<p>"Half a year after the fight against Horde Prime", Catra corrected, "maybe nine months after."</p>
<p>"No, what day", Glimmer asked again, already annoyed.</p>
<p>"Probably the weekend", Adora answered in thought.</p>
<p>"You two idiots don't know which date you got married", the queen was staring flatly at said idiots, "which day do you use to celebrate your relationship?"</p>
<p>There was a long pause, until the two women spoke up together: "Every day."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The assignment was "Make Catra and Adora the smart ones for once", right?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. What's a Birthday?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I forgot to tell you guys, but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_broom">jumping the broom</a> is an actual real life wedding tradition. So... make of that what you will.</p>
<p>Also, right now I only feel like writing silly one-shots, so there's not going to be a real plot here any time soon. If either of you feel like it, you can totally just use anything you like. (And tell me about it, I'd love to read it.)</p>
<p>Finally... you guys rock! You can't imagine how happy I am each time I open up your lovely comments. Thanks so much!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"Do you guys know what day it is?" Glimmer asked excitedly one morning after teleporting into Adora's room, where she and Catra had slept peacefully up until that very moment.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Did she knock one of the guards out", Adora, who was splayed out on the head of the bed, questioned sleepily. Catra's answer was to steal her blanket and incorporate it into the nest she had built at the foot of the bed. They had not gotten the knack of sleeping side by side yet. Also, it did not really look like they were trying at all.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer's face became solemn for a moment: "I told you ten times already: I asked you to knock on my door, </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> to knock out my guard." However she could not hold her fake anger for long, instead she jumped around excitedly. "Now guess what day it is."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"No." The blanket nest on the bed said. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Today is our -" Glimmer started but was interrupted by the door slamming open.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"FRIENDSHIP ANNIVERSARY!" Bow screamed while jumping through the open door into the room.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Can I now kill your friends?" Catra mumbled barely audible.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Adora just tried to hide with her under the blankets. "Please do."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"One year ago, </span>
  <em>
    <span>today, </span>
  </em>
  <span>we met Adora in the woods." Glimmer stated in glee.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>"Aaand we captured you." Bow added helpfully. After taking a look at Catra he added: "Which is how the Best Friends Squad forms friendship, it seems."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Can we talk about this at breakfast", Adora questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Like in an hour or two", Catra pleaded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer ignored both of them when she talked to her boyfriend: "Do you know what that means?" His eyes widened in joyful anticipation, but she shook her head sadly. "We somehow forgot Adora's birthday." She looked at the girls in the bed. "And maybe even Catra's."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Adora had managed to sit up on the side of the bed and was looking at her two friends with an empty expression. "What's a birthday?" After their faces showed annoyance and pity, she quickly added. "Except for the actual literal day of birth? Which for me wasn't last year, but… I want to say… 20? Years ago?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bow gasped and clasped his hands over his mouth. "It's even sadder than I thought. Not only do you not know your birthday, you don't even know your age?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With a bit of difficulty, Catra untangled from her makeshift nest to sit next to Adora. She answered for her girlfriend: "How would she know? Can you remember what you did when you were babies?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer scoffed: "Of course not, our parents told us." Her shoulders sagged when she remembered the other girls upbringing inside the Horde's military. "So, I assume neither of you know." The other two shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You know what", Bow had an idea, and by his smile it must have been a good one, "Scorpia has been cleaning up the Fright Zone, so she might have found some files on you guys. Even if they didn't tell you your birthdays, they might have written them down."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"After breakfast?", Adora tried to negotiate, and Bow and Glimmer just sighed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"After breakfast."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So they called Scorpia two hours later, after most of them had eaten breakfast. Catra was still in the process of eating because she had opted to take a catnap instead of going to the dining hall.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After Scorpia picked up the communicator, they could see she was standing in Hordak's old sanctum, which looked like a bomb had gone off. Metaphorically, because the "shrapnel" looked a lot like used cups, confetti, dishes with food and other party supplies.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh, hi guys", she greeted, "what a nice surprise! Gosh, we haven't seen each other in ages!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We've seen each other yesterday, at </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> party", Catra replied grumpily. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Scorpia just shrugged good-naturedly. "It was Friendship Anniversary's Eve, so we had to have a party!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You knew", Adora questioned with honest bafflement.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Of course, I knew", Scorpia confirmed with pride, "just because I'm part of the Super Pal -" She looked away obviously to count the members before her mind's eye."- Super Pal Quartet, I still know all about the Best Friends Squad!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Shouldn't you guys be back to trio", Catra questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh wildcat, you are our honorary fourth member", Scorpia told her with a motherly smile, "you plus Entrapta plus Perfuma plus me makes four!" She moved one of her pincers to scratch on her head. "Maybe we have to add Hordak and Wrong Hordak and Emily, too. That would make us a septett?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>While she thought, Glimmer had run out of patience. "We are calling to ask if you found some files on Adora and Catra in the last year. We want to know their birthdays."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Ooooh, files", Scorpia answered with glee, "yes sure, we found them, when we turned the archives into a mushroom farm. Let me tell you, I don't get what the deal is with mushrooms - they are slimy when cooked and they don't even count as vegetables, so why would you eat them?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Because they are still good for you", Perfuma was suddenly next to the other woman and waving at the Best Friend Squad, "Good morning to you! You are up early for how late you stayed yesterday."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Not on my own accord, though", Catra grumbled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll see if I can find the files", Scorpia said and left Perfuma to talk to their friends. After the fight with Horde Prime Perfuma and her kingdom had helped a lot with making the Fright Zone livable again. Now, one year later, her former temporary visits had started to become a permanent stay. Of course, no one really minded. Whatever the relationship between the two women, Scorpia deserved - maybe even </span>
  <em>
    <span>needed</span>
  </em>
  <span> - a loyal friend. The other princess was that kind of friend.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"The trick to get ex Horde members to eat anything is to press it into bars", Glimmer advised with a big grin.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"That is so </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>true", Catra objected at once, angrily swishing her tail around.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"These two have eaten so many bars of soap", Bow added with a laugh, completely ignoring the angry cat next to him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Catra huffed and crossed her arms defensively. "It's not my fault they look so much better than the ration bars in the Horde."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"They taste better, too", Adora supplied.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We really should start a support group for people who have to live with ex Horde scum", Glimmer mused.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Perfuma on the other side of the screen turned to see if Scorpia was still in earshot and mumbled: "I wouldn't say scum." Louder she added: "But I'll try the bar idea, thank you."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They could hear Scorpia's quick breath before she came into view again - evidently she had run. Also she must have known exactly where these files were, because she had not been gone for long.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Awww, Adora I'm sorry", she pressed Adora's file against the camera, so the Best Friend Squad could read it. Sure enough there was her birth date next to a photograph of her when she was five. "Your birthday was last month - you just missed it."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The blonde just shrugged uselessly. She had no idea what the big deal with birthdays was - it seems she had missed a lot of them over the last decades.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"And Catra your birthday isn't for eight months either", Scorpia commented while pressing another file to the communicator - this one showed a toddler Catra who had just wet herself next to her personal data.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well thanks so much, now we can prepare the best birthday parties ever for these two", Bow spoke up excitedly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They said their goodbyes and hung up, which bathed the Best Friend Squad in awkward silence.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"So now what", Glimmer questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I think the decent thing to do would be to go over to Scorpia's and help her clean up", Adora said with a long sigh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"On most planets the ratio of male to female is one to one for persons, but on Etheria it's one to two for some reason", Catra supplied. The other three just stared at her until she shrugged with an innocent smile: "Isn't the subject 'facts that have no bearing to the current situation'?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm going to Scorpia's to help", Adora decided and stood up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm going back to bed", Catra said. In contrast to her words, she followed her girlfriend when she walked to the door while  rolling her eyes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Wait", Glimmer called to them while reaching for something to write on the table, "when were your birthdays?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Catra and Adora stared at her, then at each other. The files had shown much more interesting information (and unflattering pictures) and they had little interested in that particular date. Maybe because their birthday had started a suffering that they were only now recovering from. Or maybe because they were just dumb. Whatever the case, they realized their brains had rejected the information entirely.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll bring the files from Scorpia", Adora said with an awkward grin.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer just groaned. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I made some soap for the Friendship Anniversary", Bow said, "you want to give some to Scorpia and Perfuma?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Adora was already leaving the room when she gave back: "I'd rather not. Scorpia ate the last bar of soap you gave her."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It felt weird to use the Gregorian calendar in a She-Ra story, so in case you are wondering:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://she-raandtheprincessesofpower.fandom.com/wiki/Adora">Adora's</a> birthday is January 19</li>
<li>
<a href="https://she-raandtheprincessesofpower.fandom.com/wiki/Catra">Catra's</a> birthday is October 28th</li>
<li>
<a href="https://she-raandtheprincessesofpower.fandom.com/wiki/Frosta">Frosta's</a> birthday is May 7, so I figure Princess Prom was in February ("I'm eleven and three quarters!"), which was shortly after the Best Friend Squad got together</li>
</ul>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. What's a Princess?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a nice quiet day as Darla, the spaceship, was on her way to the very first mission of the Best Friends Squad plus Entrapta (she had tagged along to keep their ship and consequently <em> them </em>alive).</p><p> </p><p>Catra had gotten her old room on the brig of the spaceship back, because Bow feared cabin fever would get to all of them sooner or later, and for the catgirl having her own little space would be the difference between life or death.</p><p> </p><p>The rest of them shared the crew quarters, even though Adora usually slept with Catra (as she had done the last time they had been on Darla).</p><p> </p><p>So the five of them were gliding through space. Catra was taking a nap on Adora's lap, while the blonde was reading a history book she had brought from Brightmoon. Entrapta and Bow were tinkering on separate projects, and Glimmer was trying to learn how to knit, to make a cute present for her aunt when they returned.</p><p> </p><p>"I have a question", Adora announced quietly, and the rest of the awake team looked at her. "Glimmer, when you first got the rank of queen you couldn't come on missions with us. Why can you now?"</p><p> </p><p>Glimmer frowned at the other woman and lost a stitch in the process. Her tongue poked out when she tried to repair her knitting while answering: "Because my dad, <em>the king</em>, is back home handling my royal duties."</p><p> </p><p>"So the rank of king is higher than the queen", Adora questioned.</p><p> </p><p>The Queen just stared at her: "No, it isn't. Queens and kings are the same, it's just that women are queens and men are kings."</p><p> </p><p>"Right", the blonde answered resolutely, and for some long moments petting Catra's head was enough for her. Then she spoke again. "So that's like a sergeant in the Horde, right?"</p><p> </p><p>"What", Bow's shriek voice echoed through Darla.</p><p> </p><p>Adora turned towards him and softly capped Catra's ears so she would not wake up from the ruckus around them. "Is it higher? Because princesses are like force captains, right?"</p><p> </p><p>The only man of the team just stared at her with an open mouth.</p><p> </p><p>"I think you broke him", Entrapta commented and closed the man's mouth manually.</p><p> </p><p>"How the heck do you not know what princesses are? After spending so much time in the <em> Princess </em> Alliance", Glimmer gave angrily back what her broken boyfriend was thinking. If he was still thinking. He certainly did not look like he was.</p><p> </p><p>"I <em> do </em>know what princesses are", Adora defended herself at once. </p><p> </p><p>"In the Horde they said princesses were vicious little beasts that had no control over their emotions nor powers and would attack Horde soldiers on sight", Entrapta explained helpfully, obviously missing the point that this explanation was probably the one Adora knew.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde nodded at Entrapta and glanced at Glimmer before slowly remarking: "I mean… it's not totally off, is it?"</p><p> </p><p>Glimmer just growled in her direction, which finally managed to rouse Catra from her sleep.</p><p> </p><p>"What's Sparkles so angry about", she asked while stretching lazily.</p><p> </p><p>"I think it's because I may have implied she was a typical princess", Adora answered while trying to stabilize her girlfriend so she would not fall from her lap.</p><p> </p><p>"You're so stupid", Catra gave back while sitting up, "she's a queen. That's like a commander for us. I mean, for the Horde. King is second-in-command."</p><p> </p><p>Glimmer sucked air through her teeth so greedily it seemed like she wanted to create a vacuum inside the room they were in. Using up all her patience for the next three years she quietly explained: "None of these words mean a military rank." Adora and Catra shared a surprised look, so she added: "A king or queen is someone who rules a land."</p><p> </p><p>"A commander, that's what I said", Catra defender herself.</p><p> </p><p>"Everybody can be a commander", Glimmer explained and the catgirl snorted, clearly not believing what she was hearing, "but you can only be a king or queen if your parents were kings and / or queens before you. And even then only when both your parents are dead, and you are the oldest living child."</p><p> </p><p>There was a tense silence where the two ex Horde members tried to process the information. Finally it was Adora who hesitantly questioned: "So it's like a commander, only a lot more unfair to everybody?"</p><p> </p><p>Bow - who had just steadied his breathing - gasped loudly at this insinuation. Entrapta again laid hands on his chin and forehead and closed his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>Catra on the other hand just nodded at the blonde: "Yes, I could totally have made commander, if <em> someone </em> -" She gave Glimmer the evil eye. "- had not summoned Horde Prime." She sighed theatrically and snuggled closer to her girlfriend as if needing some comfort. "But I'll never be a queen."</p><p> </p><p>"You can be a queen", Entrapta said, pointing at the two ex Horde members alternatingly, "you just need to marry Adora."</p><p> </p><p>Now Bow sparkled with glee: "That would be awesome!"</p><p> </p><p>"We told you, we're already married", Catra growled silently, but Adora spoke at the same time and was louder.</p><p> </p><p>"Speaking of which - then why am I the <em> Princess </em>of Power? I don't even know my real parents, and they're probably not Anything of Power."</p><p> </p><p>Entrapta cocked her head to the side in question. "Do you want to be the Queen of Power or the Nothing of Power?"</p><p> </p><p>Catra laughed at that (or more probable Adora, she was the number one person to laugh at) and poked her girlfriends forehead: "Idiot, it's the stupid tiara! Everyone who's dumb enough to wear one has to be a princess at least."</p><p> </p><p>"Catra", Glimmer yelled and ripped her knitting in two in anger.</p><p> </p><p>Bow tried to negotiate with the catgirl: "Catra, could you maybe not use 'princess' as a swear word? I think you're hurting Glimmer's feelings."</p><p> </p><p>"Sorry", Catra said to the Queen automatically, which at least was progress, "your stupid tiara looks really nice on you, though." She was trying her best. Maybe.</p><p> </p><p>"But it is an interesting question", Entrapta mused, even though she seemed to have lost some of her interest for what was going on around her, because she had crawled into her current tech project until only her feet were visible. "She-Ra's succession doesn't seem to follow the normal rules of monarchy."</p><p> </p><p>"Except if Mara was Adora's grandma", Catra said.</p><p> </p><p>Adora blinked at her girlfriend, then at the book in her hand. Finally she spoke up: "I read that you only need to go back an average of 20 generations before you find an individual who is a common ancestor of everyone in the population. And if you go back 35 generations, you're related to everyone. That's about 1000 years." Even back in the Horde Catra had been jealous of Adora's ability to remember random facts just by reading about them somewhere. Maybe she should have read a dictionary at some point though.</p><p> </p><p>"So, there you have it", Glimmer announced, "you are related to Mara, Mara's dead. You are the Queen of Power."</p><p> </p><p>Adora stared into space and only nodded in acknowledgment. </p><p> </p><p>Since she did not get any attention, Catra frowned, but got no reaction. After a minute of that she moved her face into her girlfriend's field of view. When their eyes met, she questioned with a fake surprised voice: "Are you thinking? I've never seen you think. And I've known you since forever."</p><p> </p><p>Adora blinked and ignored the questioning, looking instead to Glimmer and Bow. "Do you think Mara had children?" The two of them shrugged. "She was so young when she died. But she might have left small children. And a spouse."</p><p> </p><p>That finally killed the mood. The Best Friends Squad was retreating, each into their own thoughts. Mara had sacrificed her life for others. Had she left a mourning family? Or friends? Could a fate like hers meet one of them in this never-ending war?</p><p> </p><p>Entrapta climbed out of her project and looked at the others. She was not able to understand how the discussion had turned sour so quickly. Honestly she had trouble even understanding <em> that </em> the discussion was over at this point. That's why she questioned: "Can I ask something as well?" The others slowly turned to her, trying to fake brave faces. "So if women are queens and men are kings - what title would Double Trouble get?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. What's a Shower?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>To answer the last chapter's question: I feel like Double Trouble would be the Daenerys of the show: "I'm Double Trouble, Ruler of My Land, Thespian, Protector of She-Ra For a Price, Breaker of the Horde." And I don't really see them having the loyalty nor patience to rule over anybody.</p>
<p>Also, the chapters now jump back and forth in time, in particular because I'm running out of ideas. :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was the week before the wedding of the century. The happy couple - Glimmer and Bow - had finally finished their share of the preparations - everything else was overseen by Castaspella.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>King Micah on the other hand had been completely useless for weeks. Whenever someone talked to him, he would get all teary-eyed and repeat a variation of "My little girl is getting married" and not interact with anyone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So everything was going great.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Everything? Well there was one little thing the bride and groom had to do before the wedding, and they were not looking forward to it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>You see, every single one of their friends was invited, even the ones that were hardly friends at all. For Instance, Adora's old Horde squat had come. All of them were reformed and they never had been as evil as Catra anyway, so there was no real problem except for </span>
  <em>
    <span>the thing.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"When are you going to talk to them about </span>
  <em>
    <span>the thing</span>
  </em>
  <span>", Glimmer whispered to her husband-to-be, while both of them watched how Rogelio and Kyle helped with setting the tables. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I regret that I volunteered to talk to them", Bow answered nervously.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer rubbed his upper arm lovingly: "I can only imagine. But you are the best negotiator I know."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He smiled widely at her: "Awww, thanks." He nodded to the ex Horde soldiers. "I'll get them. You get the others. We'll meet in the dining room in ten."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer nodded and each of them went their separate ways.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Ten minutes later all former Horde members - Kyle, Rogelio, Lonnie, Scorpia, Catra and Adora - had arrived in the dining room, where Bow and Glimmer stood next to a big selection of cakes and pies. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"So, welcome to our private cake eating", he said smiling awkwardly at the group, "we wanted to talk to all of you, and thought this would improve the mood."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Improve the mood", Catra repeated suspiciously, "what do you want to talk about? Are we uninvited from your wedding?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Adora almost tore up at this; "You can't! You said I'm the maid of honor!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bow held up his hands and shook his hands viciously: "No, no. You are not uninvited." His eyes were now filled with tears as well. "Of course you are the maid of honor, Adora, how could you even think we would not want you any longer?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"So what is it you want to talk about", Lonnie asked, suspiciously chewing on something before Bow even had the chance to open the buffet.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The bride and groom shared a look and nodded at each other, before Bow spoke up: "We just wanted to ask you a favor."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"E-everything", Kyle said, "we're just so happy you invited us."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Scorpia nodded: "Consider it done!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bow took a really deep breath - which he immediately regretted, because his favor was: "We want you to take a shower before the wedding."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The Horde members gasped for air. The wedding couple was so jealous of how they could tolerate the air in the dining room as it was.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Before anybody could speak up, he addressed Catra. "And not a catlick." He looked at Adora. "Not a sponge bath." Finally Rogelio. "And not just shedding yourself. A real shower."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Because you reek", Glimmer added quietly, which prompted </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone</span>
  </em>
  <span> in this room to give her the evil eye. Yes, even her fiancé.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bow coughed slightly before he continued: "And we do tolerate your general aversion to cleanliness, we just much rather have you not smelling like death and decay for our big day."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We do not have an aversion to cleanliness", Adora objected, crossing her arms. When she saw how Catra raised her eyebrows at her, she added: "Well, Catra doesn't like water. The rest of us just don't like showers."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"How about a bath", Glimmer suggested, but the ex Horde soldiers grimaced at once.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"That's even worse honestly", Lonnie said with a sigh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Scorpia next to her was shivering for effect.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At least neither of them had outright refused to shower, even though Catra seemed to be close to it. It was something?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well, let's have some cake, shall we", Bow said with a forced smile, and everyone stormed to the buffet at once. Everyone except Adora.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She stood there thinking, then she stood proudly and saluted Bow. "I'm going to take a shower. For you guys." She turned around and marched to her room.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Nooo", Glimmer called after her, "Adora, you need to shower the day before the wedding." But the blonde was gone. Well, she could probably be persuaded to shower a second time, that  was just the kind of person she was.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>In the meantime Bow had gotten two pieces of pie and was sharing a plate with his wife-to-be. After taking the first bite, he addressed the others: "Do any of you want to talk about what horrible thing you witnessed in the showers that you don't want to take them?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The former horde members shared looks, but nobody talked. All of them seemed confused.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"There was no horrible event", Lonnie finally answered, "it just feels bad. And ever since leaving the Horde, nobody forces us to shower daily, so we don't."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The others nodded at that, glad somebody had the vocabulary to voice out loud what they were feeling.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Mhm", Bow made while eating his cake.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There was a ruckus in the hallway. Screaming. Screeching. The pitty-patter of naked feet. A moment later the door to the dining room was kicked open and a naked and wet Adora appeared. At least this time she had remembered to drape a towel around her body. Catra was still blushing like a beacon.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Guys", she yelled, breathing hard, "the water! It's warm!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The other people looked at her completely confused.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What water", Lonnie asked, because she was the only one not completely useless when a naked woman appeared.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Shower water", Adora answered.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Scorpia was the next person to get her bodily autonomy back, so she questioned: "Like when they rerouted the reactor's cooling water?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"No, not scalding", Adora shook her head, which made droplets of water fall everywhere, "just… warm. Like body temperature." She held out her arm for the others to feel - which to be honest was useless; all water on her arm would have had her body temperature by now, no matter what temperature it had before. Still most of the former soldiers touched her arm to feel it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"This feels nice", Lonnie said quite blandly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It's not near freezing point", Kyle voiced completely in awe.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Maybe having a shower won't be so bad, then", Scorpia supplied, even though her pincers usually did not allow her to feel temperature that well anyways. The rest of her body did, and it hated the cold with passion.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Rogelio roared in approval.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Catra blinked. And breathed. That was everything her completely overloaded brain was able to figure out how to do for now. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bow and Glimmer looked uneasily from one to the other, and finally at each other.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It feels like we are intruding on a very important discovery", Glimmer whispered.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Bow clasped his hands to his cheeks: "Isn't that sad? They never had a warm shower?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer smiled wickedly: "That's good for us, though. They will shower now."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Let's take one of those warm showers together", Lonnie said - it was not clear if she was talking to Rogelio and Kyle or to everyone, "just like old times." The two men were at least the ones who nodded to the suggestion.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh this is going to be awesome", Scorpia clapped her pincers together in mirth, all while following the rest of the ex soldiers out of the room. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A moment later Bow and Glimmer were the only ones left with a frozen Catra.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It took until their cake slices were gone, but then Catra's ears dropped and she slowly started to regain her consciousness.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She turned awkwardly to her two friends, fully aware what had happened and that she must have looked like the dumb fool she was.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"So, are you taking a shower, too", Bow joked to lighten the mood.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Warm water is still water", Catra replied, shaking her head.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"But right now, somewhere in this warm water is Adora", Glimmer said with an almost evil grin, "completely naked."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"And maybe not surrounded by your old squad", Bow supplied.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That's what did it for Catra. One way or another. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She hissed angrily at nobody in particular and went to find the others.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When Bow and Glimmer left the dining hall hand in hand, glad that they had managed to get a happy end to their shower dilemma, they could hear them yelling and laughing somewhere in an adjacent bathroom. Sometimes one could even understand something resembling a sentence or two.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Hey guys, look! There's a pink ration bar just lying around!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Kyle, that's soap."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh wow, these taste a lot better than the brown ones."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. How to Break Up With Your Girlfriend?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Don't panic!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Brightmoon Castle was in panic mode. </p>
<p>Guards were running around, searching for lost members of the Princess Alliance. </p>
<p>Princesses were fleeing in fear of being roped into something they would rather not be part of. </p>
<p>Adora was confused, overwhelmed and on the verge of tears. Because something had happened, and now she had no idea what to do with the person she loved so dearly. </p>
<p>Her firstborn child, Finn just sat in front of her on a big plush couch, the teenager's head buried inside their hands and annoyed. "Mom, it's not that big a deal", they said.</p>
<p>"Yes, yes it is", Adora disagreed, then she looked over at Glimmer, who stood next to the door and looked visibly displaced. "Right Glimmer, it's a big deal?"</p>
<p>"It's really not", Glimmer answered.</p>
<p>"Have you ever broken up with your girlfriend", Adora questioned with a bit more bite than strictly necessary.</p>
<p>Glimmer rolled her eyes. "No, I have not."</p>
<p>"See", Adora almost screamed. "Neither, you, nor Bow, nor me have ever broken up with our girlfriends. So it is a big deal."</p>
<p>There was a rustling outside the window, and a moment after a disheveled Catra climbed into the room. Her child just sighed in thinly veiled frustration.  </p>
<p>"I came as fast as I could", Catra said. "What's up? Is somebody hurt?"</p>
<p>Adora walked over her and hugged her tightly, implying a "you have to be strong now" before she whispered: "Finn wants to break up with their girlfriend."</p>
<p>There was a moment of silence, before Catra answered: "That's it? That's no big deal."</p>
<p>"That's what I said", Finn almost groaned, "but mom won't listen!"</p>
<p>"Just ignore your girlfriend, she'll get the memo sooner or later", Catra advised.</p>
<p>"This is terrible advice", Glimmer stated flatly.</p>
<p>"Is it? How many girls did you break up with?" Catra gave back at once.</p>
<p>Glimmer's eyes had a mischievous sparkle when she retorted: "How many girls did you break up with anyways?"</p>
<p>Catra glanced at her wife and then back and the Queen and answered evasively: "This is not about me. It's about Finn." She walked over to her child and sat down next to them. "Right, kitten?"</p>
<p>Finn stared at their cat mother for some moments before they questioned: "Honestly, how many relationships did you have before mom? I can't decide if you're ashamed it's zero or if you're ashamed because it's a lot." Catra growled and tried to get swallowed by the couch after she realized her child though she was ashamed either way.</p>
<p>Adora laughed at that. "You're a good judge of character. There's really no in-between with Catra." So at least she seemed to know what was going on. But even though she usually felt the need to playfully tease her wife in almost everything she did, even the blonde thought this subject was off-limits.</p>
<p>"Why do you want to break up with her anyway", Catra voiced out loud while patting Finn's knee. Suddenly her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Did she hurt you in any way?" </p>
<p>Finn pressed themselves into the cushions, just like their mother had done just seconds before. Catra's ears dropped and she seemed ready to pounce at that. When her child realized this fact they laughed: "No! She didn't do anything! She's great."</p>
<p>Adora walked over to her family and sat on the other side of her kid. She brushed a blonde lock out of their face, but did not say anything, giving silent support.</p>
<p>"I", Finn started and sighed deeply, "I might be into boys. Sorry."</p>
<p>Adora did not understand the problem. Catra gasped loudly and yelled at her wife: "Of all the things you could pass on to our child, you choose this!" </p>
<p>Now Adora gasped for air: "What!? I told you I was just being nice! It's not my fault everyone is in love with She-Ra!"</p>
<p>"But you did like his attention", Catra accused with a sly smirk, and Adora jumped over her child to pounce quite playfully on her wife.</p>
<p>"Take that back!"</p>
<p>A cough made the two of them look up to the Queen standing on the door. She nodded her head towards the teenager. Finn gave her a grateful expression, because they did not know how to handle the situation. The wives looked back at their child.</p>
<p>"Wait, you're serious", Catra questioned. She quickly extracted herself from the other woman (which she had pretended was impossible just seconds ago) and sat back at her old place.</p>
<p>"Why would you think that's a problem", Adora asked while sitting on the other side again.</p>
<p>Finn looked at both of them alternatingly, then held their hands up as if to point at either of them. "She-Ra. And the old commander of the Horde." Glimmer coughed up a little "second-in-command" from the door, but kept silent otherwise. "You are such a success story, so you might want to have your child be into women as well?"</p>
<p>Catra snorted in laughter, even though she realized that she should have controlled herself better after seeing Finn's face.</p>
<p>"We don't care", Adora quickly amended, "to the point Catra thinks it's a bit silly you had to ask." She was gauging her child's reaction, but their face seemed to mellow out at her words. "You be with someone who makes you happy. We love you no matter what."</p>
<p>"We love all of you kids no matter what", Catra repeated and kissed the teenager's forehead surprisingly softly.</p>
<p>"I think you need to be honest with your girlfriend", Adora said, coming back to the subject at hand, "this is not her fault, and it's not yours, and there is nothing either of you can do about. So tell her, and if she really wants what's best for you, she'll let you go."</p>
<p>"And if not", Catra interjected, "you can still try my way."</p>
<p>Finn let themselves fall against Adora, but pulled her other mother towards themself for a hug. "Thanks, moms. I'll try."</p>
<p>A moment of content silence followed, until someone had to ruin it.</p>
<p>"Do you realize what that means", Glimmer asked, and the family on the couch looked up like they had forgotten the Queen was present. "There is still hope for one of your kids dating one of ours!"</p>
<p>"Ewww", Finn made at once. "Who'd ever date someone they grew up with? That's like dating your sister!"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Catra: "Wait, what's the problem with that?"</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. What is a Sport?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to Silverwolf for this great idea on what to teach the Horde kids!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was almost a year after the fight against Horde Prime. The Best Friends Squad had finished their latest mission on the planet Athenas. The people there were mostly non-violent monks that already studied their special brand of magic, so they welcomed the travellers with open arms. It had not taken long to restore the magic back to the planet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But now the Best Friends Squad was back on Etheria. King Micah had thrown a big party in their honor, and a lot of friends and acquaintances had come. As night came, many had slept over somewhere in the castle, so the next morning those same people were present for breakfast (it was the leftovers from the day before, but still delicious). </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Did… either of you notice anything strange with our friends", Bow whispered to his closest three friends, while the four of them sat together on some pillows in the corner of the room where the breakfast buffet was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glimmer looked around them - many of the guests had clustered together in small groups, joking and laughing while eating. She finally whispered back: "Perfuma has a new hairdo. I love her braids and all these flowers."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow slowly shook his head, but Adora was already on it: "Our old Horde squat is wearing new clothes. I've never seen Lonnie wear blue before."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The only man of the group was not satisfied with this answer either. "Netossa has gotten fat", Catra said, and let her gaze wander over the crowd, "most of them have, actually."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glimmer talked through her teeth with a shocked expression: "You can't talk about our friends like that! About nobody, to be honest!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But it's true", Bow surprised the other members of his friend group by saying this, so he added, "I mean, I'd say 'pudgy'. But most of them are."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No wonder", Adora mused out loud, "I guess without the threat of war some will have no reason for physical activity."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, what do you want to do", Glimmer questioned, clearly hesitant to eat any more of her bread rolls.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let's get all our friends together and see if we can find a sport we all like", he suggested with a wide smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glimmer lit up as well: "That's a great idea!" The two of them looked at the other couple. "What do you say?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sport", Adora questioned, clearly uneasy, "wow, we haven't done a sport since…" She thought long. "Have we ever done a sport?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra shared the uneasy expression when she answered: "At least not since I'm in the team. So you might have to explain the rules to me again."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow was completely convinced, so he went over to the food table to find a glass to clonk against and get everybody's attention. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he was gone, Catra leaned over to Adora and whispered: "You have no idea what a sport is, do you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora looked at her pathetically and shook her head: "You?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No clue."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Glimmer looked over to what they were doing over there, the two quickly shared a kiss and looked back at her friend with the fakest innocent expression ever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow used that moment to hit a fork on a glass, making everybody look at him. "Hi guys! I was wondering - since most of you don't seem to have a training regiment anymore - do you guys want to play a team sport together?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The crowd got loud quickly - most seemed to think it was a great idea, but there was one voice, belonging to a certain Kyle, that said: "What's a sport?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Kyle, you're an idiot", Lonnie reprimanded at once.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rogelio roared in approval and / or in objection - it was hard to tell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, Lonnie, do you want to -", Bow started, but was quickly interrupted by the woman in question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, thanks. You explain it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow looked dumbfounded at the group of ex Horde soldiers, then back at his own two ex Horde idiots, who clearly had no idea what was going on, either. He sighed and explained: "A sport is a physical activity or a game."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, like a training", Scorpia questioned from somewhere - they hadn't even seen her because she was decorated with flowers all over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, you play sports for fun, in your free time",   Bow added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, so like sleeping", Kyle questioned, and Bow groaned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's still a physical activity."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think where you lost u-", Catra started, but quickly corrected herself, "- </span>
  <em>
    <span>them</span>
  </em>
  <span>, is: why would you do a physical activity for fun?" She looked at her girlfriend for confirmation. "I mean, without someone or something threatening your life?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow deflated. This was not going like it was supposed to. He just wanted to get two teams together and play. "Because Etherians like moving. And we like playing with our friends." He smiled at the ex Horde members. "I mean, we'll make two teams, and we won't even count our points so we won't know who won."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How will we know which team had fun, if we don't know which team won", Lonnie asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not everything has to be a competition", Glimmer answered for her boyfriend, who was at the verge of crying. She looked at her two female best friends because she hoped they would support her when she questioned: "You guys do stuff for fun, right? You... " She grimaced. "... you like kissing each other."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both women nodded at that, and the Queen sighed in relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But kissing has a winner", Adora corrected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And it's usually me", Catra added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora did not seem to think so, because she shoved her girlfriend playfully. "That's not true. You're often chipping me with your canines."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But you like that", the catgirl gave back with a wide grin. The other woman either could not or would not refute that assertion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Maybe it's not like sleeping, but more like jumping on the bed", Kyle questioned warily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow jumped up in glee: "That's it. Jumping on the bed is a sport." Kyle puffed his chest out proudly. "Just we want two teams and a little bit of competition." He showed a very small distance between his fingers, to prove how little competition was necessary.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Isn't that how you jump on beds anyway", Catra whispered over to Adora, and the blonde just shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"At least that's something </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>win."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Having heard this conversation, Bow gave up. He put the fork and glass he was still holding back on the table and sadly trotted back to his cushion next to Glimmer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can't believe you", Glimmer spat loudly, "you made Bow sad. Shame on you! He wanted to do something nice! You can stay fat for all I care!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was very, very unfair, but everybody turned to look at Netossa, who sat next to her wife and quietly ate. Now that everybody was turned to her, she rolled her eyes: "You've got to be kidding me. You -"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spinnerella quickly interrupted any swear words from spewing out by laying a hand on the other woman's hand and  announcing: "Not that it's any of your business, but Netossa is having a baby."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The entire room exploded in cheers, so Netossa's "The first of ours, not that it's a competition." was drowned out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only two of the people in the room shared an uneasy expression.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What does she mean with 'having' a baby? Where is it?" Catra whispered to her girlfriend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora shrugged and glanced at Glimmer and Bow, who were too preoccupied with the surrounding commotion to notice them talking. "We'll ask them later. There is no rush."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra nodded and smiled: "Right. It's not like we need that knowledge right now."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I really hope this chapter takes place after the shower one.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. What are Contraceptives?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Given the subject matter, this chapter might be a bit PG, so my advice to anyone who can't answer the title question would be to just skip the chapter all together. Don't worry, you aren't missing anything. It's not even explained in a useful way.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A couple of weeks after Adora and Catra had found a plant baby upon their return from one of their missions, a beautiful baby hatched from the cabbage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the midwife had predicted, it was a healthy kitten with light fur, blue eyes and a blonde mane. The mothers were so overjoyed they completely forgot the weeks of hard work to prepare everything for the baby. Or anything else that existed in the entire universe beside their little kitten, which they named "Finn".</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like any new parent, they first tried to find a routine that worked for them. Catra had started lactating shortly before the hatch (the two of them had their share of awkward conversations, but nothing could have prepared them for the horrors of having King Micah explain to them what "lactating" meant and what it was for; they could not hold eye contact with him for weeks after), which actually complicated things because now she had to be around the baby to provide food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Surprisingly Catra and Adora had a good idea on how to handle babies - they had explained that since the Horde regularly "recruited" orphans, the younger cadets had to watch children that were too young to even be cadets. So neither bottle feeding nor burping and not even diaper changing seemed to bother either of them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Breast feeding - well let's not get into that. According to Catra, it "hurt like heck". </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anyway, when Finn was about two months old, the mothers decided that they </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> needed to have some time to themselves. They needed to go outside, have a date and talk to another adult for fifteen uninterrupted minutes about a subject that was decidedly not their baby. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Having observed their best friends, they were pretty certain Glimmer and Bow would not kill their little wonder if left alone for a couple of hours, so they arranged for them to babysit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So now what", Adora questioned when both of them stood in front of the castle. Alone. Without their baby. For the first time in what felt like forever. Somehow they already missed their little Finn. "What do you want to do?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra licked her lips and raised her eyebrows seductively, then looked up the castle wall in search of their window. "You know the guest room down the hall is probably empty?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora grinned appreciatively. "Let's go in the back way." Her wife snickered and got instantly punched for that. "Oh, grow up! I just don't want to explain to King Micah why we're back so soon."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I could squirt milk at him to distract him", Catra suggested, and both shared a laugh while scaling the castle walls.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they had managed to break into the guest room, they let themselves fall onto the bed in exhaustion. Evidently, after two months with almost no training or other kinds of sports scaling a vertical wall without climbing aids was hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took Catra about 15 seconds to realize what they came here to do, and so she started kissing her wife - until Adora pushed a hand into her face and her entire body off of her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What the…", Catra complained, but Adora held a hand up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How certain are we what we did  to make Finn", Adora questioned, and Catra cocked her head to the side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We didn't do anything? It's magic!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora laid on her back, the hands  folded over her stomach and thought. When Catra lost her patience and started going in for a kiss again, she said: "I don't want to have two kittens a year from now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That gave Catra pause. She let herself fall next to her wife and mimicked her pose. "Oh." She sighed. "You're not the one who has fangs scrapping on her breast every time </span>
  <em>
    <span>somebody</span>
  </em>
  <span> gets hungry!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora turned her head towards her wife so that her annoyed expression was better visible for her. Sarcastically, she answered: "Right, I have no idea what that feels like."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra flushed. "Okay, bad example."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They fell silent and stared at the ceiling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Did you want to have children", Adora questioned out of the blue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra shrugged as much as the lying position would allow her: "It's a bit late to have this conversation, don't you think?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If I had asked you before we found Finn, what would you've answered", Adora asked again, even though she agreed that it was way too late to have this conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra did not react at once, but took her time to find the right words: "Probably I'd say I don't want children, because I don't want our child to go through what we went through." She turned her face to the side. "And it messes with the entire She-Ra business." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora nodded to that. The last point was exactly why Glimmer and Bow had discussed the entire previous year how missions would work with a child. They did not want to give up their goals for their family, but they did not want to give up family planning for their goals. It was a real blessing to the surprise parents that their best friends had at least some kind of idea on how to move forward with this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra elbowed her wife in the side, pulling her out of her stupor. "What about you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I…", Adora started, uncertainly, "I wanted to talk to you for a while about it." Catra made a surprised noise. "Whenever we met a child on our missions I wanted to take them home. Netossa's pregnancy didn't help. Neither did Bow and Glimmer's talking </span>
  <em>
    <span>all the time.</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, why didn't you", Catra questioned, turning again so she was lying on her side, facing her wife.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Because it messes with the entire She-Ra business", Adora said, turning to the side as well, "we had such a beautiful life, I didn't want to endanger it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra laughed at that, then booped her wife's nose: "You think too much. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You</span>
  </em>
  <span>'re the one that likes routine, I adapt to whatever life throws at me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"True", Adora confirmed, then she amended: "I didn't want to endanger my routine for a baby. What if I don't like being a mom. We can't go back now!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra was honestly taken aback by all the self-doubt her wife was having, so she caressed the other one's cheek when she soothingly answered: "You're She-Ra, you can do it. I'll help you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm She-Ra", Adora repeated and sighed. "You think that's the reason, why…" She glanced at her wifes breast. "... why you get to feed Finn?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Get to", Catra repeated loudly, not believing what she was hearing - but calmed quickly when that was not what her wife needed right now: "I think it's because Finn and I are cats, and you are not."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora nodded to that, clearly not fully convinced.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra sat up quickly and clapped her hands together. "So, since you completely ruined the mood by talking about… boobs..." She stopped and looked down at her wife, who was now at least smiling a little bit. "Let's just destroy it completely by calling Scorpia and asking her how to prevent babies from being made."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora dug through her bag to get the communicator to call their friend, then sat next to her wife. Some seconds later Scorpia appeared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey you guys", she waved happily, "where's little Finny? Where's my little baby?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both wifes just laughed at that, and Adora answered: "It's just us. We have the evening off, because we needed to get out."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You don't look 'out'", Scorpia retorted, recognizing the pastel colors of the wall behind them anywhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "We wanted to have some alone time", Adora said, grabbing her wife's hand for emphasis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra nodded: "Which brings us to why we called. How do we prevent another baby from spawning when we're together?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Scorpia blushed at the question and only stared. "Golly how long have you guys dated? If you don't know, you could have had a million babies!" She looked around herself, at the old Fright Zone turned Scorpion Kingdom. "Maybe some of them are still around here somewhere?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora and Catra froze - what if they had more than one baby? Something had drawn them to find the pot that had tripped Catra half a year ago - but how many babies might have existed that they never recognized as such. Were some still alive? </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Scorpia laughed awkwardly. "Don't worry! Magic babies need their parent's love to grow. And the expecting parents are always drawn to their magic to care for them. It's parental instinct."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That did not really ease their worries. "We left Finn alone in Brightmoon during our last mission.", Catra explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora added: "Because we didn't realize we had created a baby."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh." Scorpia looked awkwardly away from her communicator. "But you came back and found little Finny. So all is well." The two wifes nodded. "But if you don't want to have another kitten right now… I mean there are potions - you just have to see that you get the right ones, they are a bit different depending on the sexes of the parents. Or not-parents. But you won't have any right now I guess…" The scorpion woman shrugged crookedly. "I mean you could try not touching each other."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra and Adora quickly put some distance between them, already feeling like this would not work for long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I guess we need those potions", Adora mumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can bring you some next time I visit little Finny", Scorpia offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thanks so much", Catra said, then rubbed her neck awkwardly, "and thanks for the explanation. So we're going back to our date now, okay?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure, have fun", Scorpia waved happily, "good luck in not making a baby!" The two women in Brightmoon waved back, and then the call was over. Adora let the communicator clutter to the floor and fell back into the sheets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We really need those potions", Catra said, laying down next to her. They interlaced their fingers. That was probably a safe thing to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This is exhausting", Adora yawned and moved a bit closer to her wife.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"At least you don't have a feral kitten biting you all the time", Catra said and stretched tiredly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uh huh", Adora made while curling into her wife's side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't pretend you don't like it", Catra was caressing Adora's side and poking her, but the blonde was not really reacting any more to her teasing, because she was way too tired.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't pretend you don't like being the primary caregiver to our child", Adora's voice was pretty much only a whisper at this point. Her eyes were closed and she was about to fall asleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're right, I love it", Catra gave back, her eyes slipping closed as well. "Let's just lay here for a couple of minutes and then we'll start our date for real."</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Three hours later they were awakened by two distinct loud noises - first of all they could hear their child crying down the hall. The second one was the communicator going off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They quickly got to their feet, grabbed the bag and ran down the hall and into their room, where Bow was cradling their upset child.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What happened", Catra screamed and ripped the baby from Bow's arms. It took almost an entire second to figure it out. "Oh, Finn's hungry." She quickly pulled her clothes out-of-the-way to satisfy her baby's needs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We're sorry", Bow said while turning to Adora and away from a topless Catra.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We couldn't get Finn to drink from the bottle", Glimmer added clearly shaken, which turned to anger fast: "What were you doing? Why didn't you answer the communicator?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora flushed in embarrassment. Not because they had done something inappropriate (was there even something "inappropriate" a pair of married adults could do?), but because Glimmer and Bow had wanted to do something nice for them, so they could have some quiet hours to themselves - and Catra and her had spent it napping down the hall. "We were preoccupied", the blonde answered meekly, which turned Glimmer's angry scowl into a suggestive smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You were", the Queen repeated slyly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Netossa brought you guys some contraceptives over, by the way", Bow added with an amused grin, "Scorpia had called her with a 'love emergency'. Somehow she thought you were still inside the castle."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Contraceptive", Adora questioned and looked over to Catra, who had silently followed the conversation so she would not startle the suckling child in her arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The potion for not having babies", the catgirl whispered as loudly as she deemed safe back, even though she still made it sound like a question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glimmer crossed her arms and had a wide grin on her face, when she questioned: "So what did you guys do that they delivered emergency contraceptives to you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You don't know what contraceptives are either?", Adora asked right back, cocking her head to the side innocently. Catra behind them was snickering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Queen rolled her eyes. "Of course I do!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So you should know what we wanted to do?"</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>"What Glimmer meant to ask", Bow interjected, while absolute stating something that Glimmer did not really mean to ask, "is what you were doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>instead</span>
  </em>
  <span>."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora laughed in relief: "Oh! We were just sleeping together."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Glimmer: For THREE hours?!</p><p>Catra: That is not even close to any kind of record for us.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. What is Love?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>One day there will be a generation that will not think "Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me no more" when this question is raised. And I think that's really sad.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was shortly after the fight against Horde Prime. More accurately it was after the first night the Best Friends Squad had spent in Brightmoon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The day before, they had explained the concept of a "sleepover" to Catra, and why not to eat soap. Also, they had had a lengthy talk about eating "real food". Subsequently Glimmer was annoyed. Whenever the catgirl's voice raised in question, the Queen would roll her eyes. The next time it would happen would be no different.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you want to do today", Bow asked over breakfast. "I feel so full of love I could uproot trees."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So what is this 'love' thing you keep talking about", Catra asked, and as announced Glimmer rolled her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You know what love is", the Queen answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora nodded to that and bumped their shoulders together: "You love me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes, probably", Catra said and raised some of her bread to her mouth, "but I have a lot of conflicting emotions for you. Is it annoyance?" Adora laughed at that. "Is it anger?" The blonde shook her head. "Is it sadness?" And she just rolled her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I thought you guys said you love each other", Bow questioned, visibly disheartened over this turn of events.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If love's not annoyance, then I might not love her", Catra stated in the direction of her girlfriend, who became visibly confused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Didn't you say that Catra told you 'I love you' down there in the Hearth of Etheria", Glimmer questioned, still pretty sure Catra was just messing with them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora looked at her uneasily - no wonder after what Catra had said - when she answered: "Uhm… no. I told her I love her." She smiled awkwardly. "You know, because I thought I was dying. And she said 'me too' and then I kissed her." She threw her hands up and the air. "And then we lived and we saved Etheria. And we're still doing that. Living. And saving Etheria. And the universe."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra exuded joy after this confession. "See", she gave back happily, "I just told her that because I thought we were dying." She took a big breath and showed her friends her teeth. "So…. what </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> love?" She elbowed Adora. "Also, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> kissed </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> first."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Liar", the blonde gave back at once.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You know what", Glimmer started, for some weird reason angry with Catra, "'love' is the Rebellion's way to pronounce  the word you know as 'loath'."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow stared at his girlfriend with pure admiration for this genius explanation, then he nodded at Catra as if to confirm it: "Yes, so you could say 'you love water'."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I love water", Catra tried the words out, clearly unsure with the wording, "that doesn't sound right."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Also you might want to question why Adora loathes you", Glimmer advised with a wide grin, which aforementioned blonde just answered with an outraged gasp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nah, that's okay", Catra said without any care in the world, "we literally fought a war against each other. I'd be very worried if she liked me. I don't like her either."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A cry made them turn towards Bow. He was on the verge of tears, head hidden in his hands and completely broken by what he was hearing. "But I thought you were such a cute couple. Now you are… what?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Friendship plus", Catra stated proudly, "just a warm body to sleep next to."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora elbowed her, and shook her head when the catgirl gave her a questioning look. "Bow's crying. That's no fun."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a moment of hesitation Catra glanced at Bow, then at Adora and then back at him. Finally she mumbled sheepishly in his direction: "Sorry, I'm just trying to be funny. I know what love is. And I </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>love Adora. A lot." She peeked at her girlfriend again. "Also, I kissed her first."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Liar", Adora said instantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow laughed in relief, but Glimmer was furious: "Are you kidding me?! All these stupid questions were just jokes to you?!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra pushed herself into her seat. "No, just the love one." She tried a little smile out. "And I thought it was really clever to say it's the same word as 'loath'."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It was, wasn't it", the Queen's mood had changed drastically at that praise, she was even smiling now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We'll clear the table for that stupid joke", Adora ammended, and Catra seemed fully onboard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When both had left the dining hall with their arms full of plates and leftovers, Adora spoke up: "I think it was really brave of you to withdraw from your joking so you wouldn't hurt Bow's feelings."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other girl laughed at that awkwardly, clearly unfamiliar (and feeling unworthy of) the praise. She finally managed to find an earnest smile when she retorted: "I told you, I want to try to be a better person." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were walking quietly after that until they reached the kitchen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was when Catra questioned: "Why did you lie and tell them you kissed me first?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora shrugged as much as she could with her still full arms: "Because I'm bad at it. I want to be a better liar." When she saw her girlfriend's reluctant expression, she quickly added: "I don't want to ruin any more surprises or hurt any more feelings."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's not very She-Ra of you", Catra joked lightly while putting her part of the dishes next to the sink, so the servants could wash them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, I'm Adora", the blonde answered from the pantry, where she was sorting the leftovers into the shelves. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The catgirl sighed at that. Not that she could say anything against this newfound egoism - her girlfriend had really earned some of that, and her heroic character would level it out sooner rather than later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Also, I kinda wish I'd kissed you first. Sooner, too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra laughed at that confession. "How much sooner?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora came out of the pantry and closed the door behind her. With a shrug she answered: "I don't know? Living-in-the-Horde sooner?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A dark blush was spreading over Catra's face: "Wow." She collected all the bravado she could muster to plaster a sly smile over her face and added: "Also pretty embarrassing, crushing on a squad mate."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, that's why I never went for it", Adora confessed, while leaning against a cupboard next to her girlfriend, "I mean after Lonnie and I broke up -"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?!" Catra's squeak was accompanied by her jumping three feet into the air. Her tail was bristling, even though she tried to hide it. "You dated Lonnie?!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, I wouldn't say 'date'", Adora mused, undisturbed by the strong emotions the other girl was exhibiting, "what did you call it? Friendship plus?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra's eyes narrowed dangerously at that, but after a moment she blinked and only looked confused. "We slept together? Each night? How could you sleep next to Lonnie, too?" Her facial expression showed annoyance. "You're lying."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yep", Adora said, while getting some of the sweets from another cupboard and handing them to Catra. "Lonnie's not really my type." She tried to offset her lie by smiling cutely. "You are the only one I ever wanted."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The catgirl took the sweets and bit into them immediately, but did not really react to anything else. Since they had put everything where it belonged, they soon were on their way back to their room. Catra was clearly debating if she should say something for most of the walk, and at the end of it she had made a decision. Her tone was almost pleading when she addressed the other girl: "I'd rather have you not learning how to lie."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, okay. I won't", Adora lied.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fun Fact: "Friendship Plus" is what German kids call "friends with benefits" these days. I just thought it was less connotated then the English expression.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. What is Flirting?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was a couple of weeks after the fight against Horde Prime. The Best Friend Squad had already made clear that they wanted to travel through space to help other planets, but they were not sure how to handle daily business on Etheria while they were gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Additionally, the independent kingdoms and other lands were missing a shared goal without Hordak as a common enemy, so there was an urgent need for some kind of agreement between the rulers of the planet about who and how they wanted to decide matters of global importance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So the princesses of the Alliance had gathered to talk about the really important problems, as Adora demonstrated by opening the war meeting with the question: "Do you think I flirt with other people?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The princesses were taken aback for a moment, until Glimmer vigorously answered: "What? No!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Scorpia was the next person to speak up: "Are you kidding? You're the most loyal person I know!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With this important fact made clear, now they had to find the source of the blondes discomfort. "Who would say such a horrific thing?", Perfuma questioned while crushing a flower to show how much she despised whoever was responsible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora just shrugged and mumbled: "Catra."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Said catgirl was looking really uncomfortable when all eyes turned to her. She coughed, then meekly stated: "No. I said 'She-Ra is flirting with other people'."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The demeanor of everyone in the room turned completely around. While everyone was angry just seconds ago, now everybody was nodding.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh, yes, absolutely", Scorpia said while moving her head up and down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mermista did not really show any expression, but agreed nevertheless: "That's the only reason I joined the Alliance, actually."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Me too", Perfuma confessed while at least having the decency to look ashamed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Me three", Huntara said, but with her grin she might just have said this to mess with Adora.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra sighed theatrically and rubbed the bridge of her nose between thumb and pointer finger: "I can't believe this is how you choose to assemble the Rebellion."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora looked lost during all of this. With a good portion of despair she clutched her girlfriends hand and earnestly told her: "I swear, I didn't mean to."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Scorpia coughed slightly, and when the blonde looked at her, her voice turned pleading when she said: "I feel kinda left out. Why did you never flirt with me?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra, being the helpful friend that she was (or was trying to be), tried to cheer the sad princess up: "You are her type, Scorpia, that's for sure!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora's gaze just said "Aah, no! Betrayal!" but she stayed silent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mermista, who was sitting next to her, leaned over to say: "There's nothing to be ashamed of. I was single. You were single." She glanced over to Catra. "Single-ish?" Another beat went by until she amended: "Okay I don't know how you two work! But at least I was not seeing anyone!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone turned to Catra, because they felt she would probably find a way to turn that statement into a nightmare for her very own girlfriend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, it was Perfuma who was speaking up next: "Since we're criticizing She-Ra, I just want to say… I think that she wears Catra's mask is a bit much."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra snickered at that, and Adora looked shocked. "I'm… She-Ra is <em>not</em> wearing Catra's mask."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Come on", Bow voiced in apparent support (?), "the mask even flashes during your transformation. It's Catra's mask, just not red but golden."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You think She-Ra is wearing Catra's mask", Adora repeated slowly, "but this version of She-Ra was created before Catra joined our side! Why didn't you say something?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was at this point, that Catra could not contain a content purr anymore. Since the table next to King Micah started vibrating at the same moment, this made apparent where an invisible Melog was sleeping.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer coughed to get the attention of the room and to answer the posed question: "Did we realize that She-Ra was wearing the mask of our mortal enemy on Horde Prime's ship? Yes, we did. But we had just single-handedly saved said enemy, so it was way less weird than you make it sound."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bow (not surprisingly) agreed with her wholeheartedly: "We thought you had your reasons."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"And when your make-out-session saved Etheria we knew we were right", Glimmer added with a big grin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora shook her head: "We were not making out." Her shaking became more urgent. "But let's circle back to the flirting part. What exactly do I do?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Flirting is a behavior involving spoken or written communication, as well as body language, by one person to another, to suggest interest in a deeper relationship with the other person", Entrapta supplied helpfully, reading the information from a pad she was clutching. So she had managed to use the First Ones network to store information.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora stared at the tech princess to try to figure out what she was doing wrong, but came to no conclusion. So she suggested: "Maybe I'll turn into She-Ra and you tell me when she does it?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Nice way to distance yourself from your actions as She-Ra", Catra mocked with a laugh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So Adora turned into She-Ra (during the entire transformation Catra was pretty open with her heart eyes, while almost all the other princesses tried to feign indifference; only Frosta was completely overwhelmed with what was going on).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Now what", She-Ra asked when she had finished.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Your tiara really looks like Catra's old mask", Scorpia commented thoughtfully.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The seven foot tall warrior just glared daggers into the other princess's skull.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took only a couple moments until Mermista pointed her entire hand towards She-Ra. Catra nodded to that gesture in earnest: "See! And right in front of me, too."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She-Ra just looked at the girls next to her with growing frustration.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yep, that's flirting", Glimmer said with a determined nod.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She-Ra yelled back: "I'm not doing anything! I'm just existing."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mermista had put her elbow on the table and had leaned her head against her hand, smiling at She-Ra: "Exactly."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra was doing the exact same on the other side of She-Ra, only mirrored: "I mean, look at you."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Are you messing with me", Adora asked while giving her girlfriend a death glare.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra looked as if that question alone hurt her badly, when she answered: "Why would you think that?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Perfuma was the next to answer: "You know I despise lying, so I want to tell you: She-Ra really has an aura that draws people in."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Women mostly", Scorpia corrected with a single big nod. She looked to her left and right, at King Micah and Huntara, who did not seem to share her enthusiasm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I like her smaller version better", Huntara clarified almost apologetically.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I feel like no matter what I say it won't look good", King Micah said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She-Ra coughed loudly to get everyone's attention, then leaned on the table (between the still swooning women on both sides): "Scorpia? Are they messing with me?" That was a tactically sound idea, to ask the one woman that could not possibly lie to save her life. Literally.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Scorpia blinked a couple of times without answering, then put both elbows on the table and placed her head on top of both her pincers. While smiling sweetly she answered: "I can't imagine anyone messing with <em>you</em> ever." She suddenly became somber for the next seven words: "And thanks for flirting with me, too."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter was brought to you by the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ">Let's Mess With Adora Foundation</a> — if you want to know what else they are doing, check the link. :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. What is a Prank?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was a couple of years after Finn had enriched Catra's and Adora's life. By now, even Bow and Glimmer had managed to create two sparkling sons, and a third one was on the way. (Glimmer was certain this one would be a girl, but Bow's family did not have a great track record having girls — in fact nobody had given birth to a baby girl in his family for three generations.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Against all expectations Catra and Adora had managed to not create another life by accident. Or on purpose. Some took that as a sign that they took their contraceptive potions when necessary and / or exercised self-control and were starting to become functional adults, but their best friends had the running joke that the couple was not taking part in any activity that created babies — and had gotten incredibly lucky with Finn. However, truth to be told, Glimmer and Bow really did not want to ask any questions about that subject, because they knew way too much about the other couple's intimate life as it was. Sadly, the other way around was true as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, the children had made missions complicated, so the last years they had only travelled to planets they deemed safe. Now they were on a planet called Pandora, that had been pretty safe when they had visited first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This planet was one of the first Horde Prime had attacked — but he had not quelled magic completely. Some giant stone turtles had preserved magic, and they had shared their knowledge with the very few Pandorian survivors of Horde Prime's intergalactic war. 10,000 years had passed since then, and now a good portion of the population had elemental magic like Frosta's, Mermista's, Spinnerella's or Scorpia's. Additionally, they could manipulate fire and earth directly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Best Friends Squad had made quick friends with the planet's unofficial leader. But the leader's wife was who they were actually visiting this time. The black-haired woman had vanished into their spaceship the moment she had laid eyes on it a couple of years back. They had found her inside the ship's guts babbling absolutely unintelligible techno nonsense with Entrapta. (On a side note: they had not even known they had Entrapta on board when that happened.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So this time they had brought her a whole set of blueprints, even though the half-finished spaceship in her manor's garden told them that she might not need them as urgently as previously thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They spent the night at their friends' place, and the morning after Adora made a startling discovery. "Catra", she yelled, pointing at the ground next to the bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra slowly got up from the comfortable nest she had created and crawled towards her wife to see what she was pointing at. Suddenly she was wide awake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In front of the bed stood two flower pots like the one that had made Finn. They knew this, because they had kept that pot inside one of their cupboards, and regularly used it to marvel over the wonders of life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Did you take your potions", Adora stammered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Possibly not", Catra answered. "Did you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think so? Mostly?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They stared at the two pots; each sported a little seedling poking from dark humus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Does this mean we are having two babies", Catra questioned while climbing over her wife and off the bed to inspect the plants. They looked similar, but not identical, and one was emitting a warmth she felt really drawn to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What else would it mean", Adora questioned back, while sitting down next to her future children on the ground, "we can pick one? What would we do with the other?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I like this one", Catra said only half-jokingly, holding the warm pot towards the other woman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora turned the pot around in her hands, unsure. "Maybe we should talk to Glimmer and Bow about it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"On the other hand", Catra considered, "they would never let us live another unplanned pregnancy down." She wrinkled her nose. "Is it still a 'pregnancy' if it's plant babies?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a knock on the door, then a voice. "Are you up", it was Glimmer, "are you decent?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No", Catra called back, "but we are clothed."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door opened and Glimmer and Bow entered with their annoying brand of early morning happiness (how Bow had managed to get morning grouch Glimmer infected with that was anyone's guess).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two women sitting on the ground quickly hid their babies behind them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The kids are already up and playing in the garden", Bow explained, pointing behind him to where the garden was located.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, what are you doing", Glimmer questioned with a big grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uhm", Adora started, "sitting." She looked down. "On the floor. Talking."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"About", Glimmer probed again while sitting down next to them, still with that really annoying smile plastered on her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra smirked slyly: "Actually we thought it would be best if we had another child." She thought about grossing the other couple out, but decided against it because with what all four of them knew of each other, it was getting pretty hard to do that any longer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow was snickering the whole time and sat down next to his wife before questioning: "Really? But we are already having a baby. Didn't we want to alternate?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes, yes we wanted", Adora nodded enthusiastically, "but you already had two in a row. It's our turn."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aaand we'll go back to travelling dangerous planets a lot earlier if we have a kid now", Catra supplied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glimmer clapped her hands together in mirth: "Well, guess you're right. Get to it! Make a baby!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra presented her the pot she had hidden with a grin: "Way ahead of you, Sparkles."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a howling laughter both Glimmer and Bow fell over, holding their stomachs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh man, you should've seen your faces", Glimmer pressed out while laughing. "That pot is Finn's! It's just a prank!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora and Catra stared at the other couple in pure confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You know what today is", Bow questioned while wiping tears from his eyes. When the two confused women in front of him shook their head, he continued: "It's exactly five years since we found out you were going to have Finn. And against all bets you managed to not create another life in this entire time!" He smiled widely at them and pretended to wipe a tear out of his eye. "We are so proud of you!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, we wanted to prank you one more time", Glimmer explained while slowly sitting up again, "and then we are giving you the greatest gift of them all!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of them spoke at the same time for the next sentence: "We won't make fun of you for having Finn!" And they doubled over laughing again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So that's not a real baby", Catra questioned, shaking the pot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nooo", Glimmer laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another knock on the already open door, and the Pandorian leader stood there, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. Next to her were four children, who were completely caked in mud and parts of the lawn behind the house. "Your children", she announced with a slight grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The four parents on the floor of the bedroom just stared silently with open mouths.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait", Bow suddenly spoke up, "we only have three children between us." He glanced at his wife's belly. "Yet."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The leader's face contorted in rather fake panic. "So one of them is ours?" She grabbed the child closest to her — the one with the cat ears — at the collar and lifted the little mud ball effortlessly up to her face. "Are you mine?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, tha-", Adora started, but Catra clasped her hand over the other one's mouth and interrupted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sh, let's see where this goes first. We might strike a good deal here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey", Finn complained, "you can't get rid of me! I'll hunt you down!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Definitively my child", Catra decided proudly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, not mine", the leader spoke and let go of the child. Finn, like all real cats, landed effortlessly on the feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is there any way you could watch them for a couple more minutes", Adora questioned, and the woman in the door nodded and ushered the children away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey, let's see if we can make a mud bath in the pool", she said — and after that there was only yelling and running to be heard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You want to talk about something more", Bow questioned, the proud grin he always got around his sons still glued to his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora nodded. "You were pranking us, right", she recapped, "putting </span>
  <em>
    <span>one </span>
  </em>
  <span>flower pot into our bedroom at night."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glimmer laughed and waved the complaint off before it happened: "Don't worry, we didn't see anything we haven't before."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Multiple times", Bow added lightheartedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So this is Finn's pot from five years back", Catra repeated while holding up said pot. The other couple nodded, not really getting where the problem was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, what is that", Adora questioned, holding up the "warm" flower pot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bow's and Glimmer's grins vanished. Even they could feel the raw magic going out from the second pot. Suddenly Bow squeaked in glee: "You are really having another child." Then he forced all of them into a big hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You know what this means", Glimmer asked in absolute glee, and the other three prepared for a wild stream of "double baby showers", "double birth preparation course" and "twins from other mothers". "We still get to make fun of your unplanned pregnancies!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nuh-uh", Adora complained at once, shaking her head earnestly, "you already gave us the greatest gift of them all!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No take backs", Catra added something that was only taught to her a surprisingly short time before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Glimmer was incredibly dissatisfied at this, but Bow had the answer: "We said we won't make fun for creating Finn! This child is completely different."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra and Adora frowned at that, but were missing a good argument. So the blonde tried to haggle: "But only for five years!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure, sure", Glimmer laughed at that, "we'll stop in exactly five years — if you can keep it in your pants until then."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Judging by Catra's facial expression, even she highly doubted they would make it. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I really hope you are getting what the planet refers to. Maybe not the name, but everything else?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. What is a Guilty Conscience?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks Fluffy_Pyrex for instilling that image in my mind -.- I hope you are happy. ;-)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was years after the Best Friends Squad had started travelling the galaxy. The war against the Horde and the subsequent fight against Horde Prime was just a distinct memory by now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Best Friends Squad plus their children had just entered the atmosphere of Etheria after returning from the planet of Ooo - a planet so wild they had not been able to distinguish magic from the normal sprouts of craziness. But at least they had an adventurous time there!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now they were back home, but something was different. It was as if the entire planet was vibrating. Maybe they had been gone for too long. Etheria had always buzzed with life and magic, right?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the Darla touched ground near Brightmoon castle, no-one came to welcome them, which was weird, too. Normally King Micah would be all over his little girl plus his grandchildren. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The royal family opted to stay in their rooms in the spaceship, so it was just Adora, Catra and Finn. They stepped out of Darla and found the next suspicious thing - the castle was not guarded anymore. Instead there were a lot of street cats lying, walking and climbing around the perimeter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Only when they entered the entrance hall did they see the first signs of intelligent life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Magicats", Catra whispered. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Indeed, before them was a group of magicat children playing. They all had blonde hair and fair fur, and seemed to be roughhousing and / or hugging. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Friends", Finn squeaked and tore away from Catra's hand to jump into the ball of children.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Finn", Adora screamed and grabbed a child out of the pile. The kitten looked exactly like Finn, but it was not her child. In fact, all of the children looked like Finn, but neither was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Are these ours", Catra questioned out loud, scratching her head in thought, "maybe we overlooked a cabbage baby or two?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or five? The pile of magicat children had five kittens.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Intruders", someone yelled from the direction of the throne room - it was a magicat child with a scorpion tail on a stick. He came over to them and pointed his makeshift lance at them and growled. "Come with me."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra and Adora followed completely dumbfounded. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Who are you", Adora questioned after a while and eyed the little guard. He was maybe twelve years old and had the same golden hair and light fur as everyone else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm Skiff of the Fright Zone Magicats", the boy answered, "we're practically the rulers here."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"And where are your parents", Catra asked with an amused smirk - she probably thought she could fight a minimum of 20 of these children at once without breaking a sweat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"They left us", the guard answered while leading them into the throne room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The room itself was heavily guarded by twelve-year-old children, with weapons made  of umbrellas, brooms and sticks.  They stood around the throne, where a teenage magicat sat. While neither of these children looked particularly like one gender or the other (which made them look even more like Finn), when the leader spoke he sounded like a boy with a broken voice: "Who are you?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Uhm… I'm Adora, I can turn into She-Ra, Queen of Power", Adora introduced herself while puffing her chest out - clearly to intimidate the boy, "this is my wife, Queen Catra. We live here in Brightmoon. We are not the Queen of Brightmoon though, that's our best friend."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm Cratos", the boy said, "because I was found in a crate. I'm the ruler of the Fright Zone Magicats and now this place." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra did not seem particularly worried about anything when she questioned: "Are all of you from the Fright Zone?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"There are different tribes", Cratos answered, "for some life started here, in some nooks or closets or the attic. These are the younglings. The older ones all stem from the Fright Zone or the land between."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Where are your parents", Adora questioned, while hoping there would be a logical explanation why so many children would form tribes, "are you related?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We are siblings", the magicat ruler answered, but held his hand up before either woman could ask any more questions. Instead he wanted to query them - or especially Catra: "Are you a magicat?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Uhm… we don't know", Catra answered, "there are no magicats on Etheria. You guys are the first ones I've seen. And you are young enough to be my-" She stopped herself and frowned at her wife, before finishing slowly. "- children."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Lord Cratos", a new guard entered the hall, dragging another child behind her, "they had another magicat with them." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cratos stood up from the throne and stepped down the stairs to grab the child, bringing the kitten to his face. Only now did the two women realize that this was indeed their child.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"This magicat smells like one of ours", Cratos decided after sniffing the other cat's fur. He growled at the parents aggressively: "Where did you find this child?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Mommy", Finn started to wail and trash, and Catra moved towards the two magicats to maybe help her kid.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Finn ist our child", she answered slowly, soothingly, and Cratos let go of Finn so that the pair of mother and child could hug.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What do you mean Finn smells like yours", Adora questioned slowly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cratos was earnestly staring into space, then glared at the two women: "Did you have any other children you didn't want to raise?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"No", both women screamed at once.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I mean technically speaking, we didn't plan on having Finn either", Catra said and pressed her child closer to herself, "but we would have raised all children we created, accident or not."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Do we -", Adora started, but paused when she realized she was not sure if she even wanted to have the answer to </span>
  <em>
    <span>the </span>
  </em>
  <span>question. </span>
  <em>
    <span>The </span>
  </em>
  <span>question she finished an uncomfortable time later: "Do we smell like your parents?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cratos walked over to them and sniffed them. It was really awkward.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Uhm, we just came back from a trip through the galaxy", Adora explained because even she knew they were not smelling like daisies right now, "we had to ration our water, so no showers."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I don't shower at all", Catra added.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"No, that's perfect", Cratos answered while sniffing Adora's hip of all places, "you smell like yourself." He looked up to them, shrugging. "I don't know what you smell like." He turned to his guardians. "Get Barrel! He has the best nose."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One guard ran away and came back a short time later with a magicat that ironically looked like a small beer barrel. He was small and chubby and probably not older than five. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"That's Barrel. We found him in a Barrel, hence the name", Cratos explained.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Barrel did not even need any incentive - he sniffed the air right away and followed that smell to the two women standing awkwardly in the middle of the throne room. For some moments he smelled Finn, but then he circled the mothers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What do they smell like? '', Cratos inquired, evidently hiding the information, what the little magicat was searching for, on purpose. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Barrel talked while continuing to sniff: "The kitten smells like one of ours. And the women smell a bit like us, too. Each differently, but somehow both smell like us. Like one half 'us'?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cratos frowned: "What does the other half smell like?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Home", Barrel answered without any hesitation, and the women's hearts stopped.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You think they could be our missing parents", the ruler of the magicat questioned, now hiding behind a mask of indifference that was pretty easy to see through since he was only a teenager.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Barrel shrugged: "I've never smelled our parents." He frowned at the women. "And one is no magicat." He looked back at his ruler to see if he was aware of that fact. He was. "But they smell what I think parents should smell like."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra was massaging her forehead with the arm not holding Finn. "Okay, yes I get it. You want a family. But we can't be your parents." She waved her arm at the guards. "These guys are what? Ten years old? That's in the middle of the freaking war. We were on opposite sides of that war, mortal enemies." She pointed at Cratos. "And you are what? Fourteen? That's when we were kids in the Horde. Way before we even had feelings for each other."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora coughed at that, and looked away, which probably meant she did not agree.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"So you never touched each other in all this time", Cratos questioned with a frown. He looked heartbroken, as if he had just now actually lost his parents, instead of two women who just vaguely smelled like them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Of course we touched", Adora answered, "I mean, we fought. And hugged. And showered together. And slept together. And -" She stopped herself because she was getting panicky. A gaze at Catra was not really helping, because she was starting to look pale as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Okay, we take responsibility for everyone older than twelve", Catra quickly calculated, "and younger than ten. Everybody in between is not possible, because of the war."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cratos seemed to be caught between the emotions. Unsure what to feel right now, he stared dumbfoundedly at the other magicat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"How many are there between twelve and ten", Adora asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"A couple", the boy answered, looking around, "we call them the Forest Magicats, because they spawned around the Whispering Woods."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora sighed. What else could she do? This was going not like she wanted it to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"So now what", Catra said, "let's say we are our parents? What are you going to do?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cratos frowned again, then held up his arm. Pointing it at them he growled: "Arrest them!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What", the women screamed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The entire room was getting darker by the second, when Cratos spoke with an unnatural dark voice: "You left us to rot. You are awful parents. We would have killed to have a parent like Shadow Weaver! Better than having no parents at all."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The little guardians marched towards them, lances pointed at them, eyes a glowing red color. Catra pressed Finn closer to herself, unsure if she could fight with a child in her arm. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora's emotions were spiraling - she was sure she could not even conjure She-Ra right now, because she deserved to be attacked by these children. Because she had disappointed her very own flesh and flood. She was a bad mother, just like Shadow Weaver had been. Maybe even worse. And just like her, she deserved to die. So when the guards attacked them, she just let it happen. Mercifully it took only a short moment until she blacked out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on her bed, Finn pressed to her front. When she heaved herself up she found Catra lying between her outstretched legs. The magicat was curled around… their newborn baby. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a groan Adora rubbed her entire face. It was all a dream. There were no tribes of accidental babies. They had just welcomed a new baby girl into this world. And the little kitten plus her big sibling Finn had sapped the energy right out of them. If she accessed the situation correctly, Catra had even fallen asleep nursing the new baby. But so had the little girl, her face still pressed into a naked breast.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sighed. So she did not disappoint her family. She had never abused Finn or anyone else in her life the way Shadow Weaver had done. And Finn was starting to form a character, and she could not be prouder of who her child turned out to be. And now the new girl - well truth to be told Catra was doing most of the work here, but she tried to be as supportive as possible, doing everything the baby (and Finn) needed that was not nursing, and every shred of energy she had left she used to pamper Catra. She was doing good. She was worthy of love. She was worthy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora sighed again and let herself fall back into the bed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Could you not move", Catra growled from the end of the bed, "some of us are sleeping." The magicat stretched herself and kicked her wife in the thigh in the process. It did not matter, Adora was used to that by now. "Nightmare?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes", Adora whispered back while caressing a sleeping Finn's head, "I dreamed we had made entire tribes of accidental babies that wanted to see us dead."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I know that dream", Catra mumbled, "I've had it ever since Finn was born. I think it's because Scorpia - at least I think it was Scorpia - told us that if we don't know how to make babies we could have made a million without knowing it." She slowly sat up and laid the baby on Adora's stomach, then corrected her top and laid down on her wife's side. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"But we haven't", Adora whispered a statement that sounded a lot like a question.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We haven't."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We are not bad parents."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We are not Shadow Weaver", Catra confirmed with a big yawn, "and I promise you that: if you ever mistreat </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>children, I'll kill you." Adora chuckled. "Don't laugh. I will. And I will end She-Ra."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I don't doubt it", Adora said with a mild smile and kissed her wifes temple, "I just thought it's funny. We fought a war against each other, but neither could get the upper hand. It would be very ironic for She-Ra to be killed by her nemesis… while being married to her."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next sentence Catra murmured was almost completely unintelligible because she was slowly drifting back to sleep. Adora thought she could understand a couple more threats. Which was utterly adorable since the catgirl was snuggled into her side and had a protective arm (and leg and tail) laid over her stomach and the baby.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I love you, you know", Adora said and closed her eyes to finally get back to sleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The answer was very soft, but she could still make it out: "Kill you so dead."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. What is Kissing?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was during the Great War between the Evil Horde and the Princess Alliance. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bow, Glimmer and Adora were on their way back from Bow's parents. After meeting them for the first time the only man of the group was wondering if the Horde taught something about relationships. And if they did, what they might consider acceptable behavior. Since Adora  seemed rather clueless in that regard, he assumed not much was part of the official curriculum. On the other hand: she was Adora.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So after contemplating with himself for a good part of the way back through the Whispering Woods to Brightmoon, he tried to nudge the blonde into telling them where her knowledge ended, so they could complement it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"So Adora", Bow started, "I guess my dads' place must have been a real culture shock for you? I guess you saw a lot of stuff that's new to you."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora was not really listening, too fascinated by one of the scrolls Lance had gifted her. Bow thought it was for the fun his dad had when she had translated George's tattoo. After calling her by her name again she finally answered: "Not really."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bow grimaced when he tried again: "I mean especially the way they were acting towards each other must have been weird."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It wasn't ", Adora  answered without looking up from her First Ones script.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bow  frowned and now it was Glimmer's turn. She hid her mouth with her hand and whispered to him: "What are you doing?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Trying to figure out if she knows what kissing is", he whispered back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Ohhhh… good idea." Glimmer nodded to herself. "Probably not, though."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You know, I'm walking right next to you", Adora interrupted, now finally looking up from her new gift. "Also, I know what kissing is."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Really", Bow's voice went up an entire octave, "I just thought… because you didn't know parties or horses or aunts."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Well, I just know, " Adora said, then paused for a moment. Since the other two seemed to wait for something, she explained: "It's for showing your sisters you like them."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Neither of the other two had a sister, so they were not sure on that part. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You have a sister?", Bow questioned simply.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora shrugged nonchalantly: "A lot of them, actually. Catra and Lonnie at least, but some might say Octavia, Scorpia and the others count, too." She put the scroll into her bag and used her sword to absent-mindedly cut some of the trees that had grown over the path they were following.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer coughed: "You're not using the word 'sister' correctly."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The blonde frowned at that and thought for some moments.  "I am", she finally decided, "they have the same mother figure, Shadow Weaver, and the same father, Hordak." After cutting some more branches she added: "And to be honest, I think one of those would suffice."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other two did not know what to answer to that. Adora was correct, which was a rare occurrence. And yet somehow they felt she was also very, very wrong.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"So… you kissed which sister", Glimmer questioned, focusing on the important details. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora had gone back to reading in the scroll and shrugged: "Why would it matter? I defected." She sounded hurt; so if not being able to kiss that particular girl anymore made her feel bad, she probably was not entirely over her. Or was she not over "them"? Adora had talked about "sisters", plural.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Did you kiss your brothers, too", Bow asked with an amused expression. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora stopped at that (which made the other two walk into her) and turned to Bow, staring at him silently. After some contemplation she explained slowly: "Some people like to kiss men, some kiss women, some kiss both. I kiss women." Then she started walking again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man of the group stood there with an open mouth. Only when the blonde vanished behind some trees did he start running behind her. Spluttering he questioned: "Why… why would you think you need to explain </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> to me?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora shrugged: "The Rebellion isn't as inclusive."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What?!", Bow and Glimmer screamed at once, making some birds flutter away and some animals flee the scene in terror.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So Adora continued while listing things on her fingers: "The Rebellion has Etherians, Etherians with wings, Etherians with horns, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>Etherians</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The Horde has scorpions, lizards, blue monsters, an octopus, a daemon…"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The list would have probably gone on, but Glimmer interrupted: "Okay, but do you have married same-sex couples, like Bow's parents?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I don't know what 'married' means", Adora answered at once, "but of course we do! I mean, they do. Did." They walked in silence, which gave her time to amend some moments later:  "I'm not so sure if we had opposite-sex couples, though. I don't think anyone would have minded, but… you know I can't remember. They're weird anyway."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bow and Glimmer just stared at her (or better the back of her head).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Opposite-sex couples are weird to you?", Bow repeated slowly, unsurely. Because he just had misunderstood that statement. Right?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora laughed her extremely fake laugh: "To me? Oh no, no. I'm open. I mean not to that specifically. For me. But you know, it's their life, I'm not judging."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You'd be weirded out if Glimmer and I started dating", Bow questioned skeptically.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora turned around and walked backwards, all the while giving them a very badly faked encouraging smile. She answered: "I knew there was something going on between you two!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What", Glimmer screamed, "no, that was a hypothetical question. Bow and I… we just won't." The two of them held eye contact for one millisecond and then looked away. "But Bow might want to start dating Perfuma."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Exactly", Bow nodded to that, "and Glimmer might want to start dating…"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Don't say Seahawk", Glimmer admonished.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"...one of my brothers", he finally finished.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While she was naïve, Adora was not dumb, so she did not believe a word the two of them were saying about </span>
  <em>
    <span>other</span>
  </em>
  <span> potential partners. She turned around while mumbling: "Might just be a phase."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It's not a phase", Glimmer gave back at once, clearly angry. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You've not met the right person", Adora questioned, clearly unresponsive to her hurt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Is that what Shadow Weaver told you", Bow asked right back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora turned back around and frowned at them. "Again?" She was referring to a big list of things she had to actively unlearn after joining the Rebellion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other two just shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Why would the Horde even take the time to propagate something like that", Glimmer asked herself, then quickly teleported to Adora and turned her forward again, so she would not tumble over the big tree lying across the path.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Less chance of pregnancy", Bow guessed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora had just learned that she had been manipulated by the Horde on yet another matter, and she had almost tripped over that tree, so she just wanted to seem like a normal person again - and so she did not ask for the word she did not know and blindly agreed: "Probably."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then there was silence. What else would they want to talk about? Oh right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"But I still want to know who you kissed", Glimmer said cheerfully and squeezed her friend's shoulders.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll tell you want", Adora answered smugly, "I'll tell you who I kissed when you two start dating."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. What is Atonement?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was only days after the fight against Horde Prime. Most wounds inflicted by the war were still raw, but the Princess Alliance pressed forward. After all, they had to get their planet back on track, and who else would do it?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So with most princesses still in bandages or at least with visible bags under their eyes they met in Brightmoon for their very first post-war meeting. Every princess of the Rebellion was present, and additionally King Micah, Bow and Catra.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Within minutes everyone was talking over everyone else trying to figure out where to get food for the entire population, how to find material to rebuild all the destroyed homes and generally how to move forward from the situation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hey guys, I might have an idea", Catra spoke up loudly, and the others quieted down. But before she could continue, Frosta interrupted loudly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Stop!", she yelled, "I can't take it anymore!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The princesses stared at her dumbfoundedly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Glimmer, who was sitting next to her, laid an arm on her shoulder and questioned calmly: "What's going on?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Frosta did not even think about calming down. Instead she angrily said: "Do you remember two weeks ago? The big war? You remember who we were fighting?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everybody was whispering about what was going on, some were nodding, only Adora answered matter-of-factly: "The Horde, but how is that-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frosta interrupted again: "And who was the leader of the Horde?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Catra, but-", Glimmer started, but the youngest of the princesses interfered again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"And now she is sitting here. With us. How is everyone okay with that?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The room went dead silent at that. Catra's ears dropped and she tried to not let it show too much that she hoped someone was going to save her. Someone blonde and strong preferably. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You already hit her in the face? Aren't you even?", Bow questioned finally, since nobody else was saying something.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frosta still seethed, which was ironic since she was the ice princess: "</span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> might be even, but you aren't. And neither is Etheria!" She took a big breath and looked to her side at Glimmer, hoping that her unofficial big sister would help her out. "Have you forgotten that it was her fault that your mom died? Have you forgotten the many innocent lives she took and the many towns she destroyed?" She turned to Adora. "Adora, have you forgotten the night you almost died when the claw marks on your back became inflamed? Don't you still have the scars?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra was trying to slide under the table to hide herself from the shame she was feeling. Still she mumbled to her girlfriend: "Do you?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a sign Adora answered: "Yes, but…"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frosta however was quick to talk again, now jumping to her feet while toppling her chair behind herself: "And now she is sitting here, between us… and you two are holding hands?" She seemed confused to what that even meant. "As if nothing happened? How do you know she won't learn what she can and betray us?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra pushed her chair back and stood up. Her ears were flat against her head when she said: "She's right-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instantly Adora jumped as well and grabbed her hand: "What? No she-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The catgirl snatched her hand away, but gave her girlfriend a tiny smile: "Yes, she's right. I shouldn't be here. If you need me to help or do some dirty work or whatever just call for me, I really shouldn't know any internals."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora shook her head: "Catra I-" Again, she got interrupted by a kiss on the cheek.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll wait for you after the meeting", Catra said while sauntering out of the room with as much fake bravado as she could muster.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Promise?", Adora called after her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the door closed the answer came from the outside: "Promise."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now the room of princesses, King and Bow were dead silent. All of them were staring at the door. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You made Catra sad", Bow mumbled in an admonishing tone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frosta put up her chair again and sat down to pout at him: "Now I'm the bad guy?! She was literally ripping Adora to shreds two weeks ago."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora sat back down again, too: "She's sorry." She was clearly on the verge of crying (or knowing her, punching something or somebody to let out her feelings).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mermista sighed to that: "I'm sure that you believe that's enough, but her being sorry will not repair my kingdom."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And so the tense silence continued.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>The meeting afterwards was not really productive. It was not just Frosta's comment. The princess was even somewhat right. Maybe they all had rushed into things without thinking. Maybe they were not even the right people for the job. Maybe this was all a bad idea.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However when Adora walked back to her room she had other problems. She wondered where Catra would be. Clearly the catgirl would not wait for her in her room, and the sun had already set, so where would she be?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Briefly the blonde wondered if she should have left the war room with her girlfriend. She had promised to take more time off for herself and the two of them - but maybe not in the middle of such an important meeting?  Also, Catra had promised to be more open with her feelings, so she should have just said something. It was not Adora's fault.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So she took a deep breath, repeated to herself that she had done everything correctly, and opened the door to her bedroom. As she had feared, the room was empty and dark. Two of the twelve moons shone into the room, illuminating that Catra had made a mess out of her desk and their bed. At least </span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span> had been able to punch her feelings out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora turned the light on and sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hey Adora", Catra said from the balcony with a grin. The blonde must have not seen her in the shadowy corner before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You did wait for me!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I promised!" The catgirl walked over to her girlfriend and hugged her tightly, then suddenly released her and jumped back three foot as if she had gotten an electric shock. "Do you really still have scars from our fights?" Her voice trembled for the next sentence. "Did you really almost die?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You want to see them", Adora questioned good-naturedly, already pulling her jacket off and lifting her turtleneck while turning her back to her girlfriend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra walked over and lightly traced the scars. "Wow."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You should've seen the other gal", Adora gave back and grinned over her shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You are an idiot", Catra gave back and pressed a finger against her girlfriend's forehead, "but they look really cool now."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The blonde raised an eyebrow at that: "And you know what? Lonnie was right. The ladies </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> love scars."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A big dramatic sigh and an eye roll followed that teasing, then Catra questioned: "You want to see what I did while you were gone?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Of course Adora did. She was absolutely stunned that even though the princesses had thrown her out, Catra had taken the time to formulate a plan to help them all. The catgirl had really grown so much the last few weeks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had also ripped five of their cushions in a fit of rage right after the meeting, but baby steps.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The next meeting came. It was not hard to get the princesses to listen to Catra's plan - even Frosta had to admit that they had nothing to show for the entire previous day, so a bad plan was better than nothing. At least they could build from that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So now Catra stood in front of the entire room. Her lowered ears showed she was not feeling too confident, but every time Adora smiled at her they twitched upwards. She started her plan like this: "I think we have forgotten about a big pile of resources at our disposal - the Fright Zone still exists and we should dismantle everything we need to help the people of Etheria. There is a bunch of raw wood, stone and metal that can be used to help rebuild the destroyed towns.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Additionally, the Horde had a coal mine in the Northern part of the Crimson Waste occupied. The mine is close to the borders of the Kingdom of Snows, so if we give it to Frosta, her people have a better source of fuel than the sparse woods they are chopping down right now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Similar the Horde mines in the mountain close to Salineas are rich in ores, maybe even gold - this might help with all kinds of things. And when everything settles down, this will do wonders for the jewelry production Salineas is known for. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"There are some sawmills in the southeast of the Fright Zone - I feel like they'd be better off belonging to Plumeria, so no more trees are cut down than can be planted and regrow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Mystacor can get that stupid garden Shadow Weaver had grown in the Fright Zone. I've no idea if there are any useful plants there, but if anybody knows, it's them</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Beast Island should go to Dryl, because I just know Entrapta will make awesome technology out of it."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Entrapta squeaked: "You want me to have Beast Island?" Catra shrugged as an answer. "You really are my best friend." The tech princess actually had heart eyes at this point and quickly got lost in her daydreams of what to do with all this First Ones Technology.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everybody else had silently followed Catra's presentation up to this point, so when she took a moment to drink some water, Glimmer used the pause: "What about Brightmoon?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You already got Adora from the Horde", Catra said with a frown. A moment later her mask broke and she smirked: "Sorry, Sparkles, I've found nothing that could be of any use to Brightmoon." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Queen just smiled back at her: "Don't worry about it."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh, another thing", Catra continued, suddenly flustered, "I'd give the lands of the Fright Zone to Scorpia, because it belonged to her family before Hordak took it." Scorpia blushed wildly and was totally touched that her wildcat would do something so nice for her. "It still has an Iridium mine and forge, so trade routes should be possible to sustain the land." Catra bit her lower lip lightly, looking to Scorpia with an awkward smile, then to Perfuma, who was sitting next to her. "But it just might need Perfuma's powers to get the Fright Zone to grow actual food."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Perfuma and Scorpia looked at each other, blushed and looked away. Catra grinned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"So… that's my idea", Catra finished, suddenly feeling very awkward under all the gazes directed at her. So she looked at Adora, and that visibly grounded her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"That's a really great plan", Mermista said while clapping slowly. She turned to Adora: "Good job, Adora."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Said blonde was completely taken by surprise: "What? It's not my plan."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frosta snorted: "You want us to believe she made the plan? After how I talked to her yesterday."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes she did", Adora assured with a big nod.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes I did", Catra said with a hurt tone at the same time, then added, "we have the same strategic training, you know!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adora grinned at her: "Although knowing you, you probably skipped force captain orientation."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra's shoulders sagged and she was glaring daggers at her girlfriend: "You never had that either."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"But I did", Adora declared with a laugh, "right before I defected. And I tried to tell you about it, but you thought it was boring."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It was", Catra defended herself, but then shrugged the discussion off and turned to Frosta and Mermista, "believe me, I have enough knowledge of the Horde to devise this plan. Remember? I was the leader of the Horde two weeks ago." The way she echoed Frosta's words from the day before gave the ice princess pause, especially since just speaking these words seemed to hurt Catra. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly there was clapping, and Catra looked up to see Bow and Glimmer jump up from their seats to give her standing ovations. Netossa and Spinnerella followed suit almost immediately. King Micah, Adora, Scorpia, Perfuma and Entrapta followed. Finally, Mermista and Frosta stood up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Catra was very touched at the gesture, even though she also looked like she wanted to punch something. There was probably too much emotion in that little feline body.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"So, who is for using Catra's plan and taking the day off", Glimmer questioned while raising her hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We found a really good solution, so we earned some rest", Bow assured, while signaling as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other princesses quickly followed, and they decided to develop details of their "good solution" the next day, so everybody had a chance to think about it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They just wanted to adorn the meeting, when a very proud Catra spoke up: "You know, there's a second solution: just merge all kingdoms and have a council of princesses reside over one big land. Maybe even have the population vote for whoever is in charge."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a long silence following. Each of the princesses counted the princesses they agreed with, and the ones they usually were opposed to. Then something magical happened. For the first time ever (and sadly for the last time, too) the entire Princess Alliance decided unanimously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh no, that's a terrible idea."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I realized too late that I didn't want to write a big scene about the scars Adora probably has (too much angst &gt;.&gt;), but I it felt weird to reference them and have Catra not act on them. So... this angst-free version is probably brought to you by Horde propaganda: "Scars are cool, because the enemy was close enough to hurt you, but you were skilled enough to live and tell the tale."</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. What is Heterophobia?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here, have something short and dumb. Next chapter is gonna be longer, and less dumb.</p><p>Shout-out to Feeling_Super_Super_Super for having a similar idea! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was not long after the fight against Horde Prime, but long enough that the relationships formed on that very day were starting to bloom. Adora was sitting in the castle's garden and was silently watching what Bow and Glimmer did on the other side of the garden.</p><p>"What are you so angry about?", Scorpia had literally appeared out of thin air, and was now sitting next to the blonde. Or maybe Adora had just been really focused on the other couple. So focused that she had missed a six foot tall scorpioni walking over to her and sitting down.</p><p>Adora looked over to the other ex Horde member and frowned: "What? Oh, I'm not angry. I'm just… in thought, you know?"</p><p>"Did Bow or Glimmer do something?", Scorpia questioned again while following Adora's line of sight.</p><p>Suddenly someone spoke from Adora's other side. It was Mermista: "Yes, they got together. Adora is heterophobic."</p><p>Adora turned to the water princess with a scandalous expression: "I. Am. Not."</p><p>"What? I thought you liked my eyes?", Catra appeared behind the bench they were sitting on, and rested her head on her girlfriend's hair poof.</p><p>"I do", Adora defended herself, "that's why Mermista is talking nonsense."</p><p>Mermista laughed at that, making all the other girls turn to her: "What do you two think 'heterophobic' means?"</p><p>Catra jumped over the bench to land in Adora's lap and answered nonchalantly: "Well, a phobia is to be scared of something."</p><p>"And Catra is heterochromatic, so it has probably something to do with that", Adora complemented.</p><p>Mermista just stared at the couple and finally sighed in frustration.</p><p>"Catra is heterochromatic?", Scorpia asked while scratching her head with one of her pincers.</p><p>"Catra is not heterochromatic", a new voice admonished. It was princess Frosta, who was leaning against the bench behind Mermista now, "because she is with Adora!"</p><p>"No, no, no", Mermista corrected, while rubbing the bridge of her nose between her fingers because a headache was starting to form, "this is about her eyes. She's heterochromatic, I'm homochromatic, which means…"</p><p>"You ARE!?", Sea Hawk suddenly squeaked, while lying at Mermista's feet. How he had gotten there nobody had seen. "Well I've seen you look at She-Ra, so I shouldn't be as surprised, but still!"</p><p>"Urgh", Mermista groaned, visibly annoyed by her boyfriend, "why would you even get these words confused? They're not even homonyms!"</p><p>Perfuma, who was leaning against Scorpia like she had been present for the entire discussion (which was possible, she was the sneaky ninja type), spoke up at that: "Who is not a homonym? I feel like almost everyone in the Rebellion is at this point."</p><p>Scorpia smiled up at her with a lot of love and warmth: "Except for Catra, who is heterochromatic."</p><p>"She is not!", Frosta angrily yelled, "she is together with Adora!</p><p>Scorpia nodded at that, and felt the need to add: "Who is heterophobic."</p><p>Adora shook her head violently left to right (and tried to ignore the needy purring cat on her lap): "No! I like Catra's eyes. So if anything, I'm homophobic."</p><p>Mermista groaned again: "That's really not how this works."</p><p>"I had homophobic milk once, but I didn't like it", Perfuma said to the group of friends with a smile and a shrug.</p><p>"I mean you are vegan, aren't you", Sea Hawk wanted to know.</p><p>"Maybe that's why."</p><p>Mermista was now rubbing her temples with both her hands: "You mean homogenized."</p><p>Catra turned to her in confusion: "So if there is homogenized milk, is there heterogenized milk?"<br/>
<br/>
"Probably before it gets homogenized?", Mermista guessed.</p><p>That made Adora sit straighter, because an idea had formed: "So for milk, being heterogenized is just a phase?"</p><p>"Adora!", multiple persons of the group, but most notably Mermista, screamed at her.</p><p>The blonde shrugged: "What, it's just a question."</p><p>Mermista now seethed: "You are idiots! All of you. Why are you such idiots?!"</p><p>Scorpia knew the answer: "Because we all were fighting as child soldiers in an unnecessary war and now for the first time ever we have the chance for something resembling a peaceful girlhood." She looked at her friends one after the other, but nobody dared to say something. "I mean, it's just a guess on my part."</p><p>Still nobody wanted to talk. </p><p>"Did someone say Swift Wind?", Swift Wind questioned while flying down from the sky. When he landed, he looked at the mute group in confusion: "What are we talking about?"</p><p>"Homogenized milk", Catra mumbled.</p><p>Swift Wind neighed and rolled his eyes: "Pfff. How is it everything homogenized on this planet, even the milk?!"</p><p>Mermista jumped to her feet in utter frustration. She angrily pointed at the group, but most importantly Adora, who radiated the dumbness that had currently gripped them all: "Okay no, you know what? I give up. All of you can stay stupid." Then she huffed and walked away in big strides.</p><p>Everyone was a bit shocked for some long moments, until Catra called after her: "Don't worry, we will!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. What is Flirting? (Part 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry, I could not find another title. But this way you know it's based on that <a href="#section0012">other chapter</a>.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was an early morning a couple of weeks after the fight against Horde Prime. Catra had just woken up inside her bed and was sleepily looking over to where her girlfriend stood in front of one of the mirrors.</p>
<p>"Mng", the catgirl tried. </p>
<p>"Good morning", Adora answered and walked over to give her a little kiss on the forehead.</p>
<p>"Are you She-Ra", Catra questioned while intently looking at the blonde. She was wearing beige trousers and a red jacket, but somehow she looked taller, buffer, blonder, better and shinier.</p>
<p>Adora went back to the mirror and frowned at her reflection, then opened her ponytail, combed her hair and bound it again. "Yes, I am", she finally answered.</p>
<p>"Why?"</p>
<p>"You remember two days ago, when we found out every one of my friends thinks She-Ra is flirting with them", Adora questioned, while going back to the bed and sitting on its side.</p>
<p>Catra crawled over to drop her head in the other girl's lap and nodded still pretty drowsily. "But not <em>everyone</em>. Only the women."</p>
<p>"I want to find out why they think She-Ra is hot", Adora explained and started petting the catgirl's head.</p>
<p>"Her muscles. Her hair. Her eyes. Her biceps. And the sword", Catra answered at once while purring from the ministrations.</p>
<p>Adora frowned at that prompt reply and questioned: "Why do you think I, Adora, am hot?"</p>
<p>Catra yawned and stretched, taking a bit more time to answer. "Your character, mostly", she finally said, opening her eyes a bit just to see the scandalous expression of the blonde.</p>
<p>"Well", Adora finally spoke again when it became clear Catra had finished her list of things she found attractive on her after the first element, "I want to see if they react to me the same when I'm in She-Ra's body but still Adora. So the royal tailor made me my regular clothes in big." She sighed. "I feel like myself, so I'll act like myself. If they still think I'm flirting it's because they are attracted to She-Ra's bigger body. If they don't, then they are probably attracted to her appearance, as in her position as savior of Etheria."</p>
<p>Catra slowly sat up and nodded, then kissed her girlfriend's cheek: "Sounds like a plan. Tell me what they'll do." She stood up from the bed and stretched again. "You can go have breakfast, I'll follow when I'm awake and clothed."</p>
<p>Adora nodded at that and happily trudged out of the room. The moment the door closed Catra's sleepy demeanor fell off and she hastily searched for her communicator.</p>
<p>When the other side took the call, she just yelled: "Get over here!" A moment later Glimmer appeared in the bedroom.</p>
<p>"Is everything okay", she questioned while looking around in panic.</p>
<p>Catra grabbed her by the shoulders and yelled: "Glimmer!"</p>
<p>That made the Queen frown and she answered: "Did you just call me by my name?"
</p>
<p>"No, I-", Catra started, but was interrupted right away.</p>
<p>"I didn't think you knew my name."</p>
<p>"I didn't, Adora told me last night", the magicat explained while letting go of the other girl. Glimmer stayed silent after that confession, so she quietly added: "Also, I didn't think it was actually your name, I thought she was just making fun of you."</p>
<p>Glimmer just stared angrily and seemed unwilling to talk.</p>
<p>So Catra finally let go of her and smirked at her: "Your name is 'Glimmer', but somehow 'Sparkles' is an insult to you?"</p>
<p>Glimmer immediately mirrored the cheeky smile when she answered: "I never said that, it's a cute nickname."</p>
<p>That made sure Catra never wanted to use the name again.</p>
<p>
"Listen here", the catgirl said urgently, "Adora wants to find out what people find attractive in She-Ra, so here's the plan!"</p><hr/>
<p>Adora was quite happy when she reached the dining hall of the castle. It was still early, so it was mostly empty except for two tables - one full of guards and one full of her friends. She waved to all of them and went to get some food from the buffet.</p>
<p>"Good Morning", she greeted when she met General Juliet at said table.</p>
<p>"Morning", Juliet answered while putting food on her plate.</p>
<p>"How are you today?", Adora questioned while getting a plate and putting fruits and bread on it. </p>
<p>Juliet however did not answer - she just rolled her eyes and walked over to the guards' table. Odd. But Adora was Adora, so she shrugged the occurrence off and went to the princess table, where Bow, Glimmer, Mermista and Scorpia waited for her.</p>
<p>She sat down on an empty chair between Mermista and Scorpia, who promptly scootched over to give her room. Adora would have thought she already had enough space, but she could not estimate distances very well in She-Ra's bigger body.</p>
<p>"Good morning", Adora said while sitting down, and the others mumbled their replies. Most of them were chewing, and you did not talk while chewing for some reason, so that was okay. "So how are you this morning", the blonde questioned Scorpia to start a conversation, but the scorpioni just leaned away and shrugged.</p>
<p>"Good." </p>
<p>Not even "good, thanks"? Adora frowned. Maybe Scorpia was in a bad mood - which certainly had never happened before, but statistically speaking it should happen at some point, right? So the blonde leaned to the other side and questioned Mermista: "How did you sleep?"</p>
<p>"Fine", Mermista answered and rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>What was going on? Adora knew she was not great at small talk, but usually people - women mostly - humored her and at least as She-Ra she never had a problem holding conversations. Even as Adora she usually managed. Until this morning.</p>
<p>She looked to Bow and Glimmer, but before she could open her mouth, Glimmer held up her finger, swallowed the food in her mouth, and said: "Don't talk with your mouth full!"</p>
<p>Adora opened her mouth in shock, because she had not even started eating yet, but decided against saying anything. So they ate in silence.</p><hr/>
<p>The day went horrible after that. In the war room nobody wanted to sit next to her, so the only empty chair in the entire room was next to her (the other side was occupied by Catra, who did not really have a choice in the matter). Worse yet, one person had no permanent chair - so the presenter always had to stand and when the next one took the stand, they would just swap seats.</p>
<p>During one break, Adora had tried to strike a conversation with Perfuma, who she thought was a good easy target to talk to - but even the flower princess had given her curt answers and quickly left with Scorpia.</p>
<p>Worse of all, when she had seen Juliet again after her shift ended, in civilian clothes, and commented on her cute white summer dress, the guard had actually slapped her. Her! She-Ra, Princess of Power! Slapped!</p>
<p>Adora just wanted to get into her bed and never come out again.</p><hr/>
<p>Catra's day had been awesome. From what she had seen, every woman in the castle had given Adora the cold shoulder, and she knew the blonde was going to be so incredibly angry at her (and hopefully even more relieved) to know why: Glimmer and Catra had asked them to ignore She-Ra to annoy Adora. It was glorious.</p>
<p>The best part was how one of them had always stood during the war meeting, so that the chair next to Adora was empty. The very best part was when Mermista's legs seemed to give in, she eyed the one empty chair and decided to rather keep standing. Even Double Trouble would have been impressed with that performance.</p>
<p>Also Catra had heard about Juliet lightly slapping Adora for some flirty comment, and she would have loved to see her girlfriend's face when that happened. As it was she was to say "sorry" in Juliet's stead, so maybe being reminded of that situation would make Adora reenact the face.</p>
<p>So when Catra heard the door to their shared room open, she gleefully turned to see an absolutely defeated Adora. The blonde sighed loudly and slumped against the door, curling in on herself. This was getting better and better. The catgirl sauntered over with so much glee she thought she was going to physically break from it.</p>
<p>And then Adora sobbed.</p>
<p>Catra's face went pale immediately, her ears dropped, her tale stopped swishing. She silently walked the last steps towards her girlfriend and kneeled down.</p>
<p>Adora now sat with the back towards the door, knees pulled up to her body and her head hidden behind them. She was shaking. </p>
<p>That was not part of the plan. Catra had taken big strikes towards being a better person, but comforting a sad person had never come up. Even if it had, that was what Bow was for. She was more a "punch your feelings out" kind of person. But so was Adora…</p>
<p>"Hey Adora", she whispered, awkwardly patting her girlfriend's head, "are you okay? What happened? Do you want me to get you a punching bag?"</p>
<p>"They hate me", Adora whispered so quietly that someone without cat ears would not have heard her.</p>
<p>"So what", Catra gave back, "since when do you care what people think of She-Ra?"</p>
<p>Adora looked up at her, and she could see the tears running down her face. "No. Not She-Ra. Me, Adora. They hate Adora."</p>
<p>Catra laughed at that ridiculous notion, and her girlfriend lowered her head again to hide her sadness. "Why would they hate you?"</p>
<p>"My ugly clothes", Adora answered and blindly pointed at all of her. Only now did Catra realize that it was indeed Adora sitting in front of her, not She-Ra. Had she transformed in the middle of the day and her idiot friends had not realized it and continued avoiding her?</p>
<p>"What's wrong with your clothes", Catra questioned and sat next to her with her back to the door, trying to get the other girl to lean into her, "it's what you always wear."</p>
<p>"Exactly. And it's still ugly."</p>
<p>Catra was starting to believe the problem was not with the way their friends had acted, but something inside Adora that was triggered somehow. That was even less of a situation she was able to handle. "Then let's get you something new", she guessed, "what would you like?"</p>
<p>Adora sighed and sat up, then leaned on Catra's shoulder (so at least the plan to get her to do exactly that had worked). "I kinda like them. They remind me of who I am."</p>
<p>"A military jacket reminds you of who you are", Catra repeated, but even saying it out loud made her realize how true it was. "Okay I get it. But it's peacetime and you don't need to be a fighter. You don't need to be anything. You can just be… you."</p>
<p>Adora looked at her sceptically.</p>
<p>"Okay, we'll buy you new clothes <em>right now</em>", Catra decided while getting up to her feet.</p>
<p>Adora looked up at her with her tear-stained face and the red eyes: "The royal tailor is already closed."</p>
<p>"So what? His store is still full of clothes, so we'll steal you something nice."</p><hr/>
<p>The royal tailor was situated in the wing of the castle that housed the service people. Adjacent to him where the kitchen and a carpenter. This entire section of the building was almost empty at this time of night and the lights were turned down. Only occasional guards patrolled the halls.</p>
<p>When they entered the tailor's closed shop after breaking open the door, Catra was pretty sure where to go first. Adora was the sporty type, so of course they would get her something comfortable to wear while being active. She browsed the clothes rack of the sports section and found some brown shorts and a plain t-shirt before realizing her girlfriend was gone. </p>
<p>So Catra walked over to casual wear - maybe Adora did not realize she was the sporty type - where she found a plaid shirt she really liked, but the other girl was still missing.</p>
<p>Adora was not in the formal wear section either, not in maternity wear, and sadly not in the lingerie part either. She had probably got lost because she could not navigate the dark room as well as the catgirl.</p>
<p>Catra was about to shout for her (which might have potentially drawn the attention of some guards outside), when she saw the red jacket and blonde hair in a section she had completely ignored the entire time. So she brought her entire outfit over to her girlfriend and whispered: "Hey, Adora?"</p>
<p>Adora jumped into the air and threw the piece of clothing she had held behind herself. "Hey. Uhm… I was just looking. I mean, I got lost and…"</p>
<p>Catra immediately realized something was not okay if the blonde resorted to lying so crudely, so she put her clothes onto the rack next to her and picked up what Adora had thrown away. It was a white summer dress with hearts or flowers (even for her  it was hard to tell in the darkness of the room). </p>
<p>Multiple funny quips went through her head. "Have you gone soft after the end of the war?" - "I didn't realize we were shopping for a nightgown." - "Do you want to buy this for your <em>other</em> girlfriend?" What stuck though was how absolutely terrified Adora looked upon being found with a dress. Catra wondered why that was - until she realized <em>her </em>first instinct was to make fun of her girlfriend for wanting a dress. They both had learned to hate dresses or any clothes that showed a resemblance of individuality, really. </p>
<p>She swallowed her guilt and the sadness of it all and smiled at Adora. While giving the dress back, she finally decided on this sentence: "The dress looks really cute. But I'd love to see it on you."</p>
<p>Adora took a shaky breath - had she held her breath the entire time Catra had debated what to do? "You think", she asked, "because it's not a big deal if not. Maybe it's not my color?"</p>
<p>Catra had to bite the insides of her cheeks to keep from screaming. The blonde was giving her a way out. A way to say "don't put on that dress" without being an unsupportive jerk. So the catgirl shook her head: "It's absolutely your colors. Please put it on? For me?"</p>
<p>"If you insist", Adora said with a sigh of relief and took the dress out of the other one's hands. She sounded a lot happier already. Probably because she was aware that magicats (like regular cats) were color blind. Or at least Catra was.</p>
<p>While Adora was changing, Catra stared at her feet. She wondered what life for them would have been like without the constant and sometimes incoherent propaganda of the Horde. She felt like maybe she was wrong about Adora being the "sporty type" - maybe the blonde was actually a girly type who had never access to any feminine clothes nor makeup nor even a comb?</p>
<p>A slight cough got her attention and she looked up to see Adora in the dress. Truth to be told, it looked weird. She had only seen the blonde once in a dress while at princess prom - and that entire event was overshadowed by them trying to kill each other. On the other hand… Adora looked a lot more comfortable than before. Right now still a bit agitated because she did not know if she would get her girlfriend's approval, but Catra could help with that: "Wow. I really like how you look in it."</p>
<p>That was absolutely the correct answer, because Adora's face lit up so bright she feared it must be visible from the outside of the room. "So, I can keep it", the blonde questioned happily, and Catra nodded with an amused smirk. "And I can wear it? Like, to breakfast tomorrow morning? Or maybe even… to the war meeting?"</p>
<p>Catra laughed at that. This kind of awkwardness was adorable. "Yes Adora, please wear the dress tomorrow for the entire day." </p>
<p>"What if the others don't like it", Adora questioned again, while playing with the hem of the dress.</p>
<p>"Then I'll kill them", the catgirl answered earnestly. </p>
<p>"Why is that your answer to everything?"</p><hr/>
<p>They were walking back through the corridors of Brightmoon castles to their room fifteen minutes later. Adora had secretly left a note for the tailor to get the money from Queen Glimmer. She was still wearing her new dress, and Catra was holding not only her hand, but her old clothes in the other hand as well.</p>
<p>Since Adora was now in a way better mood, Catra decided it was the time to come clean: "Can I confess to something? But you can't be too angry!"</p>
<p>Adora looked at her girlfriend skeptically: "You don't really like the dress?" </p>
<p>There was no way Catra would ever say something against that stupid dress, especially since she had seen how Adora's happy face had just scrunched up in hurt and sadness the moment she thought Catra hated it. "No, I love the dress", she said, "it's about your day. I told everyone to ignore She-Ra in Adora's clothes to mess with you."</p>
<p>Adora went through the emotions quickly - first relief upon hearing Catra liked her dress, then confusion, then anger and then… pride? Or maybe confusion. "So, Scorpia was not in a bad mood today?"</p>
<p>"I don't think Scorpia does bad moods", Catra answered with a smile.</p>
<p>"And Bow and Glimmer weren't angry with me", Adora questioned.</p>
<p>"No, they just wanted to annoy you."</p>
<p>"And Juliet…"</p>
<p>Catra coughed and rubbed her neck. She had almost forgotten about the entire situation with the general of the castle guard. "Juliet is really sorry. She wanted to annoy you, too, but then she thought you were <em>really </em>flirting with her when you complimented her for her…" Catra's voice petered out because she was not sure if she remembered correctly.</p>
<p>"Her dress", Adora said with an awkward smile.</p>
<p>Catra nodded: "Of course." She glanced at the girl next to her, who was not showing any emotions right now. "Are you angry?"</p>
<p>"I'm actually impressed you got the entire castle in on it without me noticing", Adora mused. </p>
<p>"And just for the record: you are very attractive as Adora", Catra said, "everybody thinks so, they are just too scared of me to voice it out loud." She showed her canines. "Because I would kill them, you know?"</p>
<p>"Really?" It was really cute, how hopeful Adora sounded. </p>
<p>Catra really thought she had done good today, because her girlfriend sounded a lot more comfortable with herself and her appearance now than she had this morning. "Yes, really", she affirmed after some moments of staring at the other girl. She kissed her cheek for good measure. "You can be angry with me for setting this up, but remember -" She flashed a winning smile. "- who took you dress shopping today."</p>
<p>"Stealing", Adora corrected, "you took me dress stealing today."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. What is an Alicorn?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My Google Docs file now has over 100 pages. That escalated quickly from "I think I have a funny idea for an one-shot". But honestly I would have lost interested a long time ago if it wasn't for all of your lovely comments. So thanks from the bottom of my heart, I never anticipated this response. ❤</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was only a really short time after the war against Horde Prime. Like, really, really short. Minutes, only. The celebratory hugs had just stopped. Now they were all just standing around, smiling awkwardly at each other and wondering: "Now what?" Evidently nobody had cared to devise a plan in the case they won.</p><p>When the group finally dispersed, mostly so they could sit down and relax for some moments, Adora saw Swift Wind and Scorpia walk into one direction. She was surprised to see the two of them had become friends when suddenly another thought hit her - during the last days of the war, ever since they had returned from space, either Swift Wind or the Best Friends Squad had always been on the road, so she did not think Catra had officially met She-Ra's horse yet.</p><p>So she spontaneously grabbed her friend's? girlfriend's? kissing buddy's? hand and went after the horse and the scorpioni. Also, she suddenly <em>really </em>needed to talk about what had happened in the Heart of Etheria. She knew what she <em>wanted</em> it to mean, but Catra had sent mixed signals for a very long time now. But they could talk later. Right now, they had to meet an important member of She-Ra's crew.</p><p>"Hey Catra, have you met Swift Wind", Adora questioned when they came within hearing distance. When the catgirl did not react right away, she added: "He is something they call a 'horse'."</p><p>"Right, you own a horse", Catra gave back sarcastically, "you're really a knight in shining armor."</p><p>"I'm my own horse", Swift Wind corrected, and Catra's eyes widened in shock and her tail bristled.</p><p>"Your horse can talk", she questioned.</p><p>"Your cat can talk", Swift Wind gave back with an annoyed expression, then neighed directly into her face, "see how that feels?"</p><p>"Yes, my horse can talk", Adora quickly went between them to mediate, "and my cat can talk, too. You're both persons, don't make this weird!" She suddenly blushed brightly. "Also Catra is not 'my' anything."</p><p>"Am I the only one who feels it's kinda awkward that you corrected that for Catra, but not for Swifty", Scorpia questioned, which promptly made Catra blush as well.</p><p>Swift Wind flipped his hair into Adora's face when he proudly claimed: "Just so you know, I am not just a horse, I am an alicorn."</p><p>Catra growled at that and her eyes closed to slits: "What's an alicorn?"</p><p>"An alicorn is a mix between a unicorn and a pegasus", the alicorn said loudly, clearly happy he had to explain the world, "not that a mere cat would not know such big words."</p><p>"I'm not a cat", the catgirl gave back and made an angry step towards her four-legged enemy, "I'm a magicat. Maybe." She raised her voice slightly. "Also, I don't need big words to feel better about myself."</p><p>"Like unicorn and pegasus", Adora guessed, still trying to get both of them to calm down, "don't worry, I don't know them either."</p><p>"A unicorn", Swift Wind almost yelled his explanation and flapped his wings for effect, "is a horse with a horn. A pegasus is a horse with wings."</p><p>"Why would you even have words for these things", Catra questioned accusingly.</p><p>Swift Wind stomped over to her, clearly agitated, and pressed his face into the catgirl's (thankfully he made sure that his horn did not hurt her). His nostrils flared. She growled.</p><p>Adora was overwhelmed.</p><p>During this commotion, Scorpia's communicator beeped. She took the call while walking away and came back an incredible short time later, rubbing the back of her head with her pincers awkwardly. She told Adora: "Frosta said to tell your darn pets to shut up! They don't have the nerve for that freaking screaming right now." Her smile was strained. "Her words, not mine."</p><p>Swift Wind looked over to Adora at that: "Pet? What's a pet?"</p><p>Adora shrugged and gave Catra and Scorpia a questioning look: "Uhm… do you guys know for sure?" Both girls shook their heads no. "Well, I've only ever heard Shadow Weaver call Catra my pet, so I think it's something like a counterpart."</p><p>Scorpia cocked her head to the side and wrinkled her nose: "Really? I always thought it was something like a little sister?"</p><p>"Nah, it means 'master'", Catra corrected and crossed her arms over her chest.</p><p>Now Adora looked confused: "You think Shadow Weaver would call you my master?"</p><p>"No", Catra admitted with an awkward grin, "but pretending she would made me feel better. Whatever it is, it's probably derogatory."</p><p>Suddenly sparkles appeared between them and a very tired looking Glimmer appeared. She looked at all of them and raised her eyebrows: "What are you doing?"</p><p>"Adora introduced me to her horse", Catra gave back flippantly.</p><p>"Adora introduced me to her cat", Swift Wind echoed in an annoyed tone.</p><p>Adora just stared at the next best tree and tried to ignore her friends and more importantly the blush that was creeping up her face again. <em>Catra was not "her" anything</em>. Yet. Maybe.</p><p>"Also, we want to know what a 'pet' ist", Scorpia added with a warm smile.</p><p>Glimmer groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose: "Are you kidding me? Between the four of you neither knows what a 'pet' is?"</p><p>"Well, we have some ideas", Scorpia amended, looking at the other three, "we just want to know which is correct.</p><p>"It's an animal companion", Glimmer said curtly, "also when you are done playing, we are all going back to our hideout to relax and regroup."</p><p>And with that she was gone again, before any of the others could interject.</p><p>"You are all my pets", Adora decided slowly, then she smiled widely and yelled happily: "You. Are. All. My. Pets!"</p><p>"Guess we are", Scorpia agreed and pulled the other three into a crushing hug.</p><p>"That means I can give all of you pet names, right", Adora questioned again, but Swift Wind blew his nostrils to make it known that he thought her given anybody any name was against his wishes.</p><p>Catra growled, too: "No thanks. You have no fantasy. You would probably name your horse 'horsey'."</p><p>Swift Wind opened his mouth to complain that he was nobody's horse, thank you very much, and also not a horse, but an alicorn, when another thought hit him: "Wait, is Adora the one who named you '<em>Cat</em>ra'?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So what is the most awkward place and time to call somebody your pet without realizing it's not usually for persons? I'd go for:</p><p><b>Somebody:</b> I didn't know She-Ra had a child. But is your child a kitten?<br/><b>She-Ra:</b> Oh yes, I had her with my pet.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. What are Siblings?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <i>Dedicated to my siblings, without whom I'd be an only child.</i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was five days before the wedding of the century. Glimmer and Bow - who were to be wed - were finally welcoming the first guests. Bow was especially delighted to have his brothers there with him.</p>
<p>The problem was: ever since he asked the Horde kids to shower he felt he owed them. So on that particular day he let them follow him wherever he went. At least now they smelled nice.</p>
<p>As a consequence Bow, Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio were standing on the drawbridge overseeing Catra and Adora hanging a "Welcome!" banner above the castle gate. Catra was a good enough climber to do that on her own; her girlfriend just stood on the ground ready to catch her if she fell. </p>
<p>When an older man appeared on the end of the bridge Bow gasped and was so quick to hug him the Horde kids thought he had teleported. After an incredibly long hug he brought the man over.</p>
<p>"...so my family will arrive the day before the wedding. I thought we could spend some quality time together", the stranger was saying when they came in hearing distance.</p>
<p>Bow was just so delighted when he nodded eagerly. Then he turned to his charges for the day and introduced: "This is my brother Mace. He's the oldest brother. We did not really grow up together, because he already had a family when I was born. But when we get together, it's epic."</p>
<p>Following his explanation the Horde kids were talking to themselves. Bow hoped they would introduce themselves now, but he thought they would come to the conclusion on their own. These days they often just needed a bit more time than normal people.</p>
<p>"Hey Catra, come over here", Lonnie called to the catgirl, who promptly let herself fall from the ledge she was standing on. </p>
<p>Adora - of course - had been distracted by the other woman's yelling, so she only saw Catra fall when she landed on her back. She still managed to get up first and carry the catgirl over as if nothing had happened and she had caught her correctly.</p>
<p>Now the five of them were talking by themselves.</p>
<p>Mace looked at his younger brother and laughed: "Do they know they are acting very rude right now?"</p>
<p>"No, they don't", Bow answered and sighed, "let's give them a bit more time. All of them are ex Horde members, and they are trying very hard."</p>
<p>That was the moment the group opened into their direction. Catra stepped in front of the others and said: "We don't think you know what the word 'brother' means. We -" She pointed to all of them. "- are brothers and sisters. "</p>
<p>Adora cleared her throat: "Even though Glimmer asked Catra and me not to refer to each other as sisters."</p>
<p>Rogelio made a fist with an outstretched thumb and pinkie and pointed the two fingers at Adora and himself, moving his hand back and forth. </p>
<p>"She said the same to Rogelio and me", Kyle expressed his outrage after watching that gesture of the lizardman, clearly not able to find anything the four of them had in common.</p>
<p>Lonnie rubbed the back of her head in thought: "Maybe she doesn't know what that word means, either? She doesn't seem to have siblings." </p>
<p>Mace had followed the entire exchange with a mild smile (unlike Bow, who was getting more frustrated by the minute) and now asked thoughtfully: "Could you explain to us what siblings are?"</p>
<p>Lonnie nodded and answered at once: "It's people you grew up with."</p>
<p>Catra added: "It's people you have the same parents with - even if they suck."</p>
<p>"The parents or the sib-", Mace started to question, but Catra interrupted him.</p>
<p>"Both."</p>
<p>The next to answer was Kyle: "It's people you trust."</p>
<p>"It's people you love", Adora said.</p>
<p>Rogelio's arms suddenly flew around, until his right fist was next to his forehead, then he extracted his pointer finger. He nodded to Kyle, who translated: "It's people who understand you."</p>
<p>"I think I have to agree with you there", Mace had gotten really quiet and was obviously thinking about what he had heard, "I might have moved out before Bow was born, but I grew up with his second oldest brother. And he grew up with the third oldest. And he with the fourth oldest and so forth. The second youngest grew up with Bow."</p>
<p>The Horde kids looked at him skeptically, probably just not used to somebody agreeing with them. Or maybe they did not know if Bow and Mace could be called brothers given the new information.</p>
<p>Mace did not seem to mind their silence, he just questioned good-naturedly: "Since we all have siblings - did you guys ever lick stuff to mark it as your property?"</p>
<p>"Of course", Lonnie agreed as if this was common knowledge.</p>
<p>Kyle shook his head and wrinkled his nose: "It did not work."</p>
<p>Catra elbowed the blonde woman next to her: "Worked for marking you."</p>
<p>None of the Horde kids seemed to find anything weird with that sentence, but Bow blushed brightly, so Mace quickly averted the subject: "And did you ever assign blame to each other?"</p>
<p>All of them answered as one: "Kyle."</p>
<p>"Catra", Kyle said at the same time. When the other four looked at him with an annoyed expression, he clarified: "Shadow Weaver blamed Catra for everything."</p>
<p>That brought their spirits visibly down.</p>
<p>Yet again, Mace tried to lift the mood: "And did you ever fight for something neither of you wanted?"</p>
<p>Lonnie was yet again the first to answer. Pointing at Catra and Adora she said: "These two fought for world domination when all they wanted to do was to smooch each other."</p>
<p>That was obviously not something Mace had expected to hear from "sisters" - but it was explaining why Glimmer did not want them to call themselves that. There was nothing to worry about either way, because you did not need to be a genius to figure out the five Horde kids were not related by blood - or if they were something very weird had happened twenty-something years ago. </p>
<p>On  second thought - maybe the two blondes were related, at least the girl looked like she should have a twin.</p>
<p>"Not true", Catra responded, "I <em>really </em>wanted world domination."</p>
<p>Adora cocked her head to the side in question: "Really? Because we can still make that work. I <em>am</em> She-Ra."</p>
<p>Now Mace's mellow smile fell off entirely and he looked to his brother: "Oh no. <em>She</em> is She-Ra?"</p>
<p>Bow himself was worried, too. Because Adora sounded honest, and she was the world's worst actress. It was time to blame somebody, so he turned to his brother: "Just so you know. This week <em>I</em> taught them to shower. You got them to strive for world domination in just ten minutes."</p>
<p>Mace just shrugged at that: "Remember that time you spew on me after having too much sweets?"</p>
<p>"…I guess we are even now."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks to hitonito and my sister for that prompt.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. What is Ice Cream?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Silverwolf wanted candy, my sister suggested ice cream, so I guess this is somewhat of a two-for-one deal! :D<br/>Thanks for the idea.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was about a week after the fight against Horde Prime. It turned out the plan to get Etheria back on track had been incredibly logical up to this point in time.</p><p><strong>1st</strong> take care of the immediately wounded.</p><p><strong>2nd </strong>get everybody else to a doctor for a check-up. Health is really important, you don't want to lose it just because you had to fight in an ancient war against some narcissistic alien leader. (But if you lose your health because of that, it is at least a solid reason.)</p><p><strong>3rd </strong>take care of the basic needs of the population. Food and water first, then shelter and clothes. Disassemble the Fright Zone if necessary - but not to the point Scorpia cannot rebuild again. She has needs, too.</p><p><strong>4th </strong>happens when there is a bit more time, but it is still an important step. It is, as a wise ice princess once said "time to have an ice cream party"!</p><p>Everybody just stared at Frosta when she said that. Because the Princess Alliance and affiliated were all in the war room talking about the socio-economic structure of the Crimson Waste when that happened. To be fair, they were expecting to be interrupted soon, but they thought Adora would be the one to step up. Because the blonde had faked the entire discussion up to this point. (And not because the Horde did not teach that stuff, Scorpia, Huntara and Catra all had a blast going back and forth on the subject. It seemed Adora just did not care for politics or economy.)</p><p>"What", Glimmer finally voiced what they all were thinking.</p><p>"Let's have an ice cream party", Frosta repeated, "Right here in this room. Right now. I'll bring the ice cream, obviously, you bring anything else."</p><p>"Ice cream", Scorpia wondered out loud, and Mermista groaned.</p><p>"Don't tell you don't know what ice cream is", the princess of Salineas said, and Scorpia held her pincers up and waved them.</p><p>"No, I do know", she quickly said, "I remember having ice cream with my parents when I was little."</p><p>"Good, I don't feel like explaining dumb stuff right now", Mermista gave back with an eye roll.</p><p>"Well, guess we'll adjourn the meeting for the day then", Glimmer decided with a sigh.</p><p>"Too bad", Adora answered sarcastically, "I'd love to talk more about the corruption of the metropolitan areas." If she had listened to the conversation at all she might have pronounced the words correctly, but she did not.</p><p>The Queen hence ignored her interjection completely: "So we need ingredients, sweets and snacks, blankets and pillows, …"</p><p>"We'll get blankets and pillows", Catra interrupted unusually helpfully, while holding up her and Adora's hands. The catgirl was out of the room - her girlfriend in tow - before anybody could say anything else.</p><p>"What are you doing", Adora questioned once the door to the war room had closed.</p><p>Catra rolled her eyes and hissed: "What is ice cream?"</p><p>"I don't know", Adora admitted, "but it has probably something to do with Princess Prom, because there everything was ice, too, and that party was….nice."</p><p>Catra frowned at that: "Princess Prom was nice to you?"</p><p>"No. But this time it will be nice", Adora said with a smile, "we could dance without you trying to kill my friends."</p><p>"I make no such promises."</p><p>Adora just sighed and finally started walking towards the rooms where everybody slept. She smiled lovingly at Catra and motioned her to follow: "But now you know them…!"</p><p>"That's why I am making no such promises."</p>
<hr/><p>Half an hour later She-ra brought a mountain of blankets, pillows and cushions to the war room - with a lazily napping catgirl on top. With an annoyed huff the Princess of Power let go of her delivery - just as Catra jumped down on the other side of it. She circled She-Ra unseen and just as the blonde was transforming back into Adora, she came from behind with a smaller pile of five (stolen) pillows, putting them next to She-Ra's mountain.</p><p>"Oh, I didn't realize you were behind me", Adora said while glancing back through the door into the halls.</p><p>Catra wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead with a groan: "Sorry, I can't lift a freaking tank without breaking a sweat like you can." She straightened up, just as if carrying these five pillows had put enormous pressure on her spine. "I bet I could've sat on top of that pile and you wouldn't have noticed."</p><p>"Don't be silly", Adora said while grabbing some blankets and pillows to put in one corner of the room to create a nest for the two of them and whoever wanted to join.</p><p>Before either of them could say anything more, Frosta interrupted: "Which ice cream flavor do you want?"</p><p>The two girls were completely overwhelmed with the question. Did the walls at Princess Prom have flavors, too? Thankfully, Frosta pointed at a table with literal ice on it, on which bowls with some kind of mash stood.</p><p>"The red one", Adora decided smartly, and Frosta happily skipped away to get her some.</p><p>That was bad for Catra - to her all the mashes looked identical, and she was not going to get the same as Adora. So she had to make a decision. "The green one", she guessed without even knowing if there was anything green, and Frosta wrinkled her nose.</p><p>"You could just say mint, you now."</p><p>Catra had no idea at all what mint was. "Sure, I just didn't want to embarrass Adora, since she didn't know what her flavor is called", she lied smoothly, and grinned at her girlfriend, who just rolled her eyes.</p><p>After getting their two bowls of whatever that was, and making themselves comfortable with some of the pillows and blankets, the two of them started eating.</p><p>"Ewww", Catra said almost immediately after putting her spoon in her mouth, "it tastes really cold."</p><p>Adora laughed: "Mine tastes like strawberry. You wanna trade?"</p><p>Catra had no idea what a strawberry was, but she decided it could not be any worse than her flavor, green bitter cold. Adora's ice cream was actually good. It was still cold, but at least it tasted sweet.</p><p>"I like both flavors", Adora decided while they were eating.</p><p>The two of them could see the party starting from where they were. Bow had brought an electrical appliance that could play music automatically, and the pillows they had brought were now strewn through the room, each seating a small group of their friends.</p><p>When Catra finally stood up, Adora addressed her while holding up her bowl: "Can you get me another? Your taste is amazing." </p><p>Catra snorted at that: "Really? Because my taste in women is the worst. Blond and dumb."</p><p>"I didn't realize you were dating out of your type", Adora gave back at once with a wide smirk.</p><p>"You're one to talk, Ms. I-like-purple-tall-and-muscular."</p><p>A lesser woman might have resorted to lying at this point. "No, I love women that look like you, darling." Or maybe at least diverting the subject. "Didn't you want to bring me some ice cream, sweetheart?" However in her panic, Adora scanned the room in search of Huntara. To her horror, the unofficial leader of the Crimson Waste was sitting close enough to have heard the entire discourse. She even had the cheek to wink at the blonde, who promptly blushed a bright red.</p><p>Catra was quiet at that, but she gave her purple rival the evil eye.</p><p>"No joke about scratching her eyes out", Adora questioned with an awkward grin.</p><p>Catra shook her head. "Are you crazy? She'd kill me. If she wants you, she can have you." </p><p>That's when Catra went over to the iced mush bowls to get some more of the so-called ice cream. This time with sweets sprinkled on top and cream for Adora. When she came back Scorpia followed her.</p><p>The scorpioni was looking weird to them when she flopped down. It was not that she was looking sad, but her ever-present cheerfulness was missing, which actually might have been worse. Because "sad" was something they could handle, a  blank stare was way harder. </p><p>"Are you okay, Scorpia", Catra asked. </p><p> "Oh? Me", Scorpia looked up at the catgirl as if this was the first time somebody had ever asked her how she was. Which might have been depressingly correct. "Oh, yeah, me, I'm fine. I'm just reminded of my parents. My mom used to make ice cream like this herself when I was little."</p><p>The other two girls made slightly panicky eye contact. Between bottle-your-feelings-up-even-if-it-kills-you Adora and I-don't-even-have-feelings Catra the two of them, even if put together, hardly made up one functional adult. There were probably no two other people in the entire room that were equally unprepared for dealing with a melancholic Scorpia. </p><p>Adora still tried: "And your other mom?" She caught herself. "Or your dad? Which is a thing. That I'm absolutely okay with." Catra looked at her confused. "Not for me personally. But I'm open to other people's choices."</p><p>"Why", her girlfriend just questioned, and Adora shrugged her shoulders and mouthed voiceless: "It's a Brightmoon thing."</p><p>"My other mom was a really great singer, she sang to me each evening before going to bed", Scorpia said while eating her ice cream.</p><p>Catra's ears dropped when she remembered how she had made fun about the other woman's singing in the past, so she mumbled: "So that's where you got your nice voice from?"</p><p>For some beats nothing happened, but then Scorpia looked up, stars in her eyes: "But you said you hated my singing!"</p><p>Catra quietly ate her ice cream for some long moments, then gave the bowl to Adora (who promptly continued eating it). "I hated a lot of my old life in the Horde, but especially myself. Sorry I vented my frustration on you." The catgirl tried a small smile. "Perfuma said you sang beautifully in that nightclub."</p><p>Now Scorpia's eyes were full of tears and she was shaking completely now. Her arms opened slowly.</p><p>"Is there any way we can do that without -", Catra started, but was interrupted by a big hug that did not seem to end.</p><p>"What are you doing", Perfuma said when dropping down next to Scorpia, "how do you like the ice cream?" She eyed the Scorpia-Catra hug for some moments skeptically, then sighed. "Are you hugging her or strangling her?"</p><p>"Both", Catra gasped, "help me?"</p><p>Perfuma just smiled at the two of them and repeated her earlier question: "Adora, how do you like your ice cream?"</p><p>"Love it", Adora answered with a wide smile, "I already had strawberry, mint, chocolate and lemon."</p><p>"Hey, lemon was mine", Catra complained from her position smushed against Scorpia. </p><p>Suddenly a growl. It seemed like it came from the catgirl's stomach. Catra herself turned pale at the sound. "Uh, Scorpia", she questioned and tapped the scorpioni two times on the shoulder, after which the hug ended immediately.</p><p>"Are you okay, wildcat", Scorpia asked with a worried expression.</p><p>"Uh oh", was the last thing Catra said before she sprinted on all fours to Glimmer, then she yelled: "My bathroom! Please!"</p><p>Glimmer teleported them instantly and was back only seconds later. She walked over to the three who had sat closed to Catra and questioned: "Is she okay?"</p><p>Adora was turning her and Catra's bowl left and right to examine them. What she thought she would find was anyone's guess.</p><p>"Oh no", Scorpia said and clapped her pincer against her forehead, "Catra can't have milk."</p><p>"Is there milk in here", Adora said while holding up her bowl, obviously not surprised about the fact her girlfriend could not have it.</p><p>"Do you not know how ice cream is made", Glimmer questioned while crossing her arms over her chest.</p><p>"Up until this morning, I didn't even know what ice cream was", Adora answered with a shrug, "I thought it had something to do with the walls of Frosta's castle."</p><p>Glimmer sighed: "You really need to stop putting stuff you don't know into your mouths."</p><p>"It's really hard to care, if nothing will ever be as vile as the Horde's ration bars", the blonde gave back while getting up from her cushion and dusting her pants.</p><p>"That's true", Scorpia added with a nod, "these beige bars were awful." She watched Adora for a couple of seconds thoughtfully, then questioned: "Are you going to heal her?"</p><p>"Great idea!" And so Adora decided to transform into She-Ra and have Glimmer teleport her directly to Catra so she would suffer as little as possible.</p><p>Catra herself was on the toilet and in pain. All by herself she had figured out that ice cream contained lactose, but that was only a small comfort for how bad she felt. She held her aching stomach and groaned.</p><p>That was the moment an eight-foot-tall warrior woman materialized directly in front of her, while pointing a giant glowy sword at her.</p><p>One way or another, the lactose left her body at that exact point in time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. What is Homophobia?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was at least a decade after the fight against Horde Prime. The Best Friends Squad now travelled the galaxies with their children. Since the youngest was still a baby, they were only ever on diplomatic missions, but by now they had more than enough allied planets and nations that would send delegations to places they deemed risky. </p>
<p>Bow and Glimmer were sitting on a table in Darla's cockpit and reading some documents, deciding if the planet they were approaching was worth their time. They had been whispering for a while, when Glimmer turned around to Catra, who was slumped in the captain's seat, and Adora, who was playing with the children with building blocks.</p>
<p>"The next planet might have a homophobic race", she explained, "do you guys think we should skip it?"</p>
<p>"Homophobic means -", Bow started explaining, but got cut off by Catra right away.</p>
<p>"We know what that means", she said with an eye roll while repositioning the bundle in her arms, "it's like Adora is acting towards opposite-sex couples, but against normal couples."</p>
<p>Adora turned around so quickly she toppled a building over. "I'm not...", she started to express her outrage, "at least I'm trying to… Some of my best friends are… I can't believe you would say that. I'm open!"</p>
<p>Glimmer cleared her throat to get them back on track, then she explained: "I'm wondering: is it really worth it to help them with restoring magic if they're like this?"</p>
<p>"No", Catra answered simply.</p>
<p>Adora shook her head: "They might be good people who were taught the wrong stuff. Like we were in the Horde."</p>
<p>"Still no", Catra insisted.</p>
<p>"I mean, we could just use disguises for a couple of days", Bow offered, "can either of you pretend to be a man?"</p>
<p>Glimmer seemed not completely onboard with that idea, but she supported Bow: "Yeah, who is the manlier of you guys?"</p>
<p>"Hate to tell it to you, Sparkles", Catra spat while clearly enjoying whatever she had to say, "but our entire relationship is built on the fact that neither is a man."</p>
<p>Adora looked up from the house she was now building: "You wouldn't love me if I was a man?</p>
<p>"No", came the answer with a sly smirk, "I can hardly tolerate you as it is."</p>
<p>"Oookay", Glimmer drawled, "who is more feminine?"</p>
<p>"She", both women said at the same time.</p>
<p>"What? Are you kidding", Catra questioned her wife in an annoyed tone of voice, "you turn into an eight-foot-tall blonde lady-killer!"</p>
<p>"She-Ra is unisex, thank you very much", Adora gave back, while pointing her chin at the bundle in the other one's arms, "you are nursing a child right now!"</p>
<p>Catra looked down at their child, and pulled on the blanket covering the little one's head so she was decent, not that anyone present minded: "How are you using that against me?!"</p>
<p>"That might be harder than I thought", Bow whispered and turned around to their documents again.</p>
<p>Glimmer sighed as well: "Okay, maybe just pretend to be friends?"</p>
<p>"Yeah", Bow spun around excitedly, "you can finally claim to be sisters!"</p>
<p>"We are sisters", Catra gave back, even though by now both Bow and Adora thought she was only doing it to spite Glimmer. </p>
<p>The Queen herself was ignoring the interjection for now. She rubbed her temples when she thought out loud: "You just need to remember to stop flirting and keep your hands to yourself…"</p>
<p>Both she and Bow turned around to the table as one.</p>
<p>"This is not going to work, is it?", Glimmer questioned.</p>
<p>"No chance", Bow agreed.</p>
<p>The two of them read and whispered some more, and the other two women went back to whatever they were doing before.</p>
<p>It was a while until the two at the table turned around again. Glimmer spoke up first: "Okay, another idea. Bow will pretend to be Adora's husband, and I'll pretend to be Catra's."</p>
<p>Catra had just closed her eyes for a catnap and was now blinking sleepily: "My… husband?" </p>
<p>Glimmer just nodded earnestly. "I think I can pull it off - with magic if need be."</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, your dad looked great in She-Ra's skirt and with her hair", Bow supplied happily.</p>
<p>"My dad did what?"</p>
<p>Bow stared at Glimmer with an open mouth - it took some time to realize that Micah had transformed into She-Ra in that very short time period where Glimmer was separated from him and Adora. </p>
<p>Glimmer shook the vision of her dad in a skirt off, then came back to the subject at hand: "Okay, this would mean that Adora has to pretend to be the Queen, but we've travelled enough together that you know what I do. And I'll pretend to be She-Ra if need be."</p>
<p>Bow nodded skeptically to this suggestion: "And you two get all children."</p>
<p>"What? No", Adora jumped to her feet in pure terror, "I want to have children with Bow!"</p>
<p>"Because your children are kittens and ours are sparkling", Bow answered while nodding to the children, "it's going to be really hard to explain that for us."</p>
<p>Glimmer laughed: "Yeah, do you and Bow really want to have kittens?!"</p>
<p>"I mean I get where you're coming from", Adora gave back, "but these are literally my children. Of course I want them."</p>
<p>The children had now stopped playing and were looking at their parents curiously. </p>
<p>"Well, let's ask the judges", Glimmer said and sat down next to Adora, facing their offspring, "so, kids, we are playing a funny game. I'll pretend to be She-Ra, and Adora's going to pretend to be me."</p>
<p>"And Glimmer is pretending to be a man", Bow added from where he still sat at the table.</p>
<p>Finn looked between all of them curiously, then asked simply: "Why?"</p>
<p>"Because every planet has its own traditions, and we fear they won't like our family situation", Glimmer explained with a diplomatic skill fully worthy of a queen.</p>
<p>Finn frowned in response: "Why? Because Mom and I are cats?"</p>
<p>"Nooo", Bow wailed at once, "you're so cute, nobody would ever not like that."</p>
<p>"Because my moms are siblings?", Finn tried again, and Glimmer groaned.</p>
<p>"That is actually a problem on Etheria, too", Glimmer explained and tried to gauge if the oldest kitten was messing with her or if there was a real possibility of someone claiming She-Ra was dating her sister in public, "that's why they're not."</p>
<p>"It is? Why?"</p>
<p>Glimmer sighed again and turned to her own children for support: "Let's focus on the funny game!"</p>
<p>"We should lie?", her oldest questioned with watery eyes.</p>
<p>Glimmer just stared into (literal) space after that. She loved Catra and Adora dearly, so of course she had no qualms teaching their children to lie, swear or be as loud as possible. Her own children however were the only pure thing in this evil world filled with obnoxious kittens. As every parent, she wanted them to be honest with her (or at least Bow). That was why she could not in good conscience ask them to lie right now. She turned to her husband, but knew fully well he would not encourage anybody to lie either.</p>
<p>Instead the man just sighed: "That is so not working."</p>
<p>"Not a bit", Adora concurred.</p>
<p>Glimmer groaned, too, and stood up to sit at the table again, while Adora started playing again.</p>
<p>"Okay, last idea", the Queen promised, "one of you stays on the airship with the children. So nobody can accidentally say the wrong stuff."</p>
<p>Catra stretched lazily: "Sounds good! Adora can stay here."</p>
<p>The Best Friend Squad could see Adora's mind objecting. Her eyes went to the sleeping child in Catra's lap and she wanted to complain that - of course - the nursing mother should stay with the baby. She also wanted to make clear that a magical mission needed She-Ra as a magical being. She might even have reminded everyone that She-Ra seemed to attract women of every race. And even if there were no women (like when they were on that planet that had seven genders, and neither looked typical male nor female), she still attracted at least one of the genders (in that specific case, all seven of them). After not saying all of this she turned back to the building blocks and mumbled: "Yeah that's fine. I don't really want to pretend to be okay with an entire race of homophobic people."</p>
<p>The catgirl sat up at this. The baby she was holding started stirring at this, but she knew what she was doing and soothed the bundle with some well-trained bell rubs. When she had calmed the child she got back to complaining: "I want to stay on Darla!"</p>
<p>"You just said -", Adora started, but got interrupted quickly.</p>
<p>"Well, I just remembered I'm nursing <em>your</em> child", Catra spat, but she did not manage to get anything but love and warmth behind her words, "also everybody loves She-Ra, you should totally go!"</p>
<p>Adora shrugged: "If you say so." She stood up to give her youngest child a kiss to the fuzzy forehead, and her wife a kiss to her lips. "If it's safe, I'll come for you.</p>
<p>"You always do!"</p>
<p>So it was decided. As it turned out, their reports were not completely correct. The planet had been homophobic 100 years ago, but by now it was mostly fine. Maybe the reports were from a time before that - or maybe the author had seen that only one in ten couples was same-sex, and the planet's race could not reproduce in that case.</p>
<p>In either case - instead of being hostile towards She-Ra, most people seemed in awe with the magical being with magical children. The fact that most of She-Ra's family were cute kittens was a big plus, too.</p>
<p>"That was a big success", Glimmer decided some weeks later when they were finally leaving the planet.</p>
<p>"Yes, it was", Catra concurred, "Adora turned so many women, if we don't get them magic soon they'll go extinct in one generation."</p>
<p>"I was talking about the fact that we have a new ally for the Princess Alliance", Glimmer gave back with an annoyed expression.</p>
<p>Catra looked up that: "The what?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not a native speaker, so you absolutely should correct me, but please be constructive. :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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